# Would life be possible on a planet that has an axis of rotation that always “pointed” directly at the sun? [duplicate]

Preface: I'll be calling call the orbit described in the question title a "solar-oriented orbit" for the sake of convenience, as "a planet that has an axis of rotation that always pointed directly at the sun" is a bit of a mouthful.

Firstly, is a solar-oriented orbit even possible? I know the axes of most planets do not behave this way, in that their axes do not care where the sun is at any given point in time. Earth's orbit, for example:

Earth's orbit viewed at an angle, vs.

Top-down view of hypothetical planet in a solar-oriented orbit. The arrows indicate the orientation of the axis.

I imagine that a system like this would function similarly to that of a tidally locked planet, as half the planet would receive constant exposure to the sun and the other half would never receive any.
Assuming that all other conditions of this planet are earth-like:

• Orbits in the "Goldilocks Zone."
• Has a molten core.
• Contains water.

would life be able to develop on a planet that had one side continuously exposed to the sun? If life did come about, would it develop any differently than on a planet that was tidally locked? In other words, would the spins of a solar-oriented planet and a tidally locked planet be different enough to cause differences in life that would develop on them?