As the team readies the telescope for science operations in a few months, it continues to make progress. This week, the telescope turned on its high-gain antenna, which allows it to send data to Earth and receive commands via NASA's Deep Space Network.
The observatory is in its final configuration after everything is deployed and shown in the diagram below. The home for essential systems like power, altitude control, and communications is on the underside of the telescope.
The antenna was extensively tested on Earth before being used in space. The antenna was released one day after the launch of the spaceship. According to NASA, the antenna will need to send at least 28.6GB of data from Webb to Earth twice per day. The data will be sent through space and picked up by NASA's Deep Space Network, which has three locations around the globe so that there is always at least one location that can maintain contact with Webb as the Earth spins.
The Ka radio band is where the data will be sent in order to make it efficient. The observatory will eventually be able to send all of the science images and data down to the ground to be analyzed and made discoveries.
The first target will be the star HD 84406. This is a very bright star that will be too bright for the telescope to study once it is focused, but that makes it ideal for collecting engineering data during the process of aligning the mirrors.
