"tess" is orbiting the earth with a period of about 14 days, which is half of the period of the moon. the orbit will be highly elliptical, which means that it will be closer to the earth at some points but very far from the earth at other times. "tess" will have four high-resolution cameras and will be continuously taking photos of the sky. it will send the photos to the laboratory on earth which will make them available to scientists to study. members of the public, like astronomy hobbyists and enthusiasts, will also be able to download and see the photos.