The James Webb Space Telescope is the pinnacle of modern technology.The telescope transmitted high-resolution images of deep space.
However, it may come as a surprise that the James Webb telescope stores these incredible images of the universe on a mere 68GB SSD.
You might be wondering how the most technologically advanced piece ever created by mankind functions on an SSD with a much lower capacity than what humans use on their laptops.
When you understand what the telescope does on a daily basis, the question becomes moot.
The Hubble Space Telescope, which preceded the James Webb Space Telescope, transmits 1-2GB of data per day.
The James Webb Space Telescope, on the other hand, transmits 58GB of data per day.
The 68GB SSD installed on the James Webb telescope secures 3% of the telescope's total capacity for technical and operational data.
The remainder is devoted to storing images, which are then transmitted back to Earth via a 25.9 GHz Ka-band connection.
This transmission allows the telescope to beam data collected by it to Earth at a rate of 48MBps.
The data for the James Webb telescope does not need to be stored for more than 24 hours.
The images are transmitted back to Earth by the telescope over two four-hour communication periods.
These communication periods occur well before the drive is completely filled, which would take about a day.