Astronomy: The Tools of the Trade--How do we get the info back to earth?

So there are space ships, space telescopes, and probes flying around in space sending us information. How does the information get to us?

Well, the space tools send information by radio waves, which are collected by satellites. Look here for a little more info and an activity: http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/space_level1/activity/maze.html

So the satellite array collects the messages sent back from the probes, and then satellite dishes on earth pick up signals sent from the satellite array.

An example: http://spitzer.caltech.edu/video-audio/639-ssv005-Artist-Concept-Spitzer-Observation-Cycle

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tracking_and_Data_Relay_Satellite

There is also the Deep Space Network, which helps Earth hear from space probes.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deep_Space_Network