--- title: "The James Webb Space Telescope’s Orbit Is Gonna Be Absolutely Deranged" description: "NASA’s next generation James Webb Space Telescope is slowly making its way to its final orbit around the Sun, roughly 1 million miles from Earth. As seen in an animation, it’s a seemingly chaotic loop-de-loop — but of course, there’s plenty of method to the madness. The telescope will be orbiting a rather unusual spot […]" date: "2022-01-07" modified: "2022-04-14" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/james-webb-space-telescope-orbit" categories: - "James Webb Space Telescope" - "NASA" - "Space" tags: - "james webb space telescope" - "JWST" - "NASA" - "the digest" --- # The James Webb Space Telescope’s Orbit Is Gonna Be Absolutely Deranged ![In an animation, the James Webb Space Telescope is doing a seemingly chaotic loop-de-loop across the solar system. But there's method to the madness.]() *\Image: NASA\* ## Squiggle Orbit NASA's next generation James Webb Space Telescope is slowly making its way to its final orbit around the Sun, roughly 1 million miles from Earth. As seen in [an official NASA animation](), it'll end up in a seemingly chaotic trip around the solar system that'll involve a series of bona fide loop-the-loops — but of course, there's plenty of method to the madness. The telescope will be orbiting the Sun at a rarefied spot in our solar system: the second Lagrange point, known as L2. At this particular location, the telescope is capable of keeping the Earth between it and the Sun, as [NASA explains](). If everything goes according to plan, the observatory will get to that point towards the end of this month. https://youtu.be/6cUe4oMk69E?list=TLGG8tIphgpDAHkwNzAxMjAyMg ## Lagrange Loop There are numerous reasons why NASA chose L2 to park its expensive space telescope. The point allows it to not get scorched by the Sun's harmful rays, because it can keep its massive sunshield pointed at our star at all times. Other satellites have already ventured to L2, including the European Space Agency's Planck space observatory, which launched in 2009, and NASA's Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe, which launched in 2001. The telescope has a hot and a cold side, with the former reaching a balmy 185 degrees Fahrenheit, while the cold side where its scientific instruments are stashed can plummet down to -388 Fahrenheit, according to NASA — a massive temperature differential. Since the JWST will be facing the Earth at all times, keeping in touch with the telescope will be relatively straightforward. It will be able to up and downlink twice a day, connecting to three large antennas across three different continents back on Earth. The observatory still has a lot of ground to cover until it will get to its orbit, where it will spend at least the next ten years. But given that [everything so far is more or less going according to plan](), it should have no trouble getting the rest of the way there. **More on the telescope:** *[This Might Be the Last We Ever See of the James Webb Space Telescope]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()