# James Webb Space Telescope general discussion thread

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-webb-space-telescope-general-discussion-thread/956624>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Tags:** science-math\
**Created:** [December 25, 2021, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-webb-space-telescope-general-discussion-thread/956624 "2021-12-25T13:18:56Z")\
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**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\
**Post date:** [January 7, 2022, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-webb-space-telescope-general-discussion-thread/956624/194 "2022-01-07T20:43:02Z")

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There is no pan or zoom. The entire spacecraft is rotated, albeit within significant restrictions. The telescope will always only see a disc roughly perpendicular to a line between it and the sun, but over the course of the year that disc will cover the entire sky.

Scott Manley explains. If I’ve done this right, the link jumps to the relevant bit of the video.

[![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/cp_7AJseYYc/maxresdefault.jpg "How NASA's $10 Billion Origami Telescope Will Unfold The Early Universe") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cp_7AJseYYc)

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