COBE (Cosmic Background Explorer)
A NASA satellite, launched in November 1989, that was designed to study
the residual radiation of the Big Bang. Its historic discovery of "cosmic
ripples" – tiny fluctuations in the temperature of the cosmic
microwave background – was announced in 1992. COBE also mapped
interstellar and interplanetary dust clouds. Originally planned for launch
on the Shuttle, COBE was redesigned for launch aboard a Delta following
the Challenger disaster. Its instruments include the Differential
Microwave Radiometer (DMR) to check the thermal and structural uniformity
of the early Universe, and the Far Infrared Absolute Spectrometer (FIRAS),
and the Diffuse IR Background Experiment (DIRBE) to search for the remnant
radiation emitted from the primordial galaxies as they formed. COBE’s
supply of liquid helium was exhausted in September 1990, causing loss of
the FIRAS instrument.
| launch date |
Nov. 18, 1989 |
| launch vehicle |
Delta 5920 |
| launch site |
Vandenberg Air Force Base |
| orbit |
872 × 886 km × 99.0° |
| size |
5.5 × 2.4 m |
| mass |
2,265 kg |
Related category
• SATELLITES
AND SPACE PROBES
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