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Spacecraft · evidence and sources

James Webb Space Telescope

The most powerful space telescope ever built, located at Earth-Sun L2.

astronomy-engine Position basis, the same label the app shows on the selection card.

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Every aspect, with its origin

One record per aspect. The origin says what kind of thing each value is; the source says where it came from; the limit says what it cannot tell you.

ObservedCatalogComputedReconstructedIllustrativeUndocumented
Position Computed

Position at the earth L2 point

James Webb Space Telescope is drawn at the Sun-earth L2 Lagrange point, recomputed from the planet's astronomy-engine position for the simulation time. The real spacecraft follows a halo orbit around that point, which is not drawn.

LimitThe halo orbit (hundreds of thousands of kilometres across) is collapsed to the libration point.
Physical data Undocumented

Bulk properties

James Webb Space Telescope: mass 6.161 × 10^3 kg. These values are bundled with the object record and drive the rendered size.

SourceBundled object record
LimitThe object catalog does not record where these values came from; treat them as unverified until the record is completed.
Appearance Reconstructed

Close-up hull model

The close-up shows a published 3D model scaled to 21 m deployed sunshield span. NASA, ESA, CSA; model distributed through NASA 3D Resources.

SourceNASA 3D Resources · record jwst
MethodSpace Time normalises the source model to the published deployed dimension.
LimitSource-asset presentation pose; time-dependent flight attitude is not modeled.
Description Undocumented

Description and facts

The short description and the fact list are written by the Space Time authors for orientation. They are not quoted from a catalog field and carry no citation of their own.

SourceSpace Time editorial text
LimitBackground reading is linked under Further reading; it is not the source of the displayed numbers.

What is not measured

  • Appearance: a reconstruction from measurements, not a direct observation. Close-up hull model. Source-asset presentation pose; time-dependent flight attitude is not modeled.

Not yet documented

  • Physical data: The object catalog does not record where these values came from; treat them as unverified until the record is completed.
  • Description: Background reading is linked under Further reading; it is not the source of the displayed numbers.

Sources cited

Further reading

Wikipedia: James Webb Space Telescope (background only; not the source of the displayed numbers)

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