// ORBITAL LOGISTICS AND PROPULSION TERM
Slew
To slew means to quickly turn or rotate a spacecraft or its instruments from one direction to another. It's like pointing a camera rapidly at a new target.
TECHNICAL DEFINITION
Slew refers to the rapid rotational maneuver of a spacecraft or its onboard instruments, such as sensors or antennas, to reorient its pointing vector from an initial target to a new desired target, often involving high angular rates.
BACKGROUND
The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is a space telescope designed to conduct infrared astronomy. It is the largest telescope in space, and is equipped with high-resolution and high-sensitivity instruments, allowing it to view objects too old, distant, or faint for the Hubble Space Telescope. This enables investigations across many fields of astronomy and cosmology, such as observation of the first stars and the formation of the first galaxies, and detailed atmospheric characterization of potentially habitable exoplanets.
READ MORE ON WIKIPEDIASYNONYMS & ALIASES
- Reorient
- Rotate
- Turn
- Point
- Maneuver
- Swivel
USAGE NOTE
Slew rates are critical for agile satellites needing to image multiple targets quickly.