Astrophysics

WMAP

Completed

Image: NASA / WMAP Science Team · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Launched: 30 Jun 200119:46:46 UTC
Last contact: 20 Oct 2010
Duration: 9 years 3 months
Destinations: Sun–Earth L2

The Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe, which mapped the cosmic microwave background from the Sun–Earth L2 point. It fixed the age of the Universe at about 13.8 billion years and measured its mix of ordinary matter, dark matter and dark energy.

Milestones

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20022004200620082010

Spacecraft

WMAP

Telescope

Completed

Spinning satellite with a pair of back-to-back telescopes that compared the temperature of two patches of sky at a time.

Launch mass: 840 kg
Dry mass: 768 kg
Size: length 3.8 m, span 5 m
Power: Solar
Built by: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Last contact: 20 Oct 2010
Designator: 2001-027A

Mission details from science.nasa.gov.