Communications System How does NASA communicate with spacecraft?

What is telemetry?

Telemetry is any data that travels from a spacecraft to Earth. Telemetry can give information about the ships position and heading, it can tell how instruments or other parts of the ship are functioning, or can downlink scientific data gathered by the spacecraft.

What are uplink and downlink?
How long does it take for transmissions to get between DS1 and Earth?
How often is DS1 in communication with Earth?
How does NASA run space missions?
How does a spacecraft know where it is?

What kind of data is DS1 sending back?
How do the instruments and sensors coordinate sending signals?
How much data is DS1 able to transfer?