COBE

past Mission

Mission Type

Space telescope

Nasa lead

Goddard Space Flight Center

Launch

Nov. 18, 1989

wavelengths

Infrared, microwaves

NASA’s COBE mission mapped diffuse infrared and microwave radiation from the early universe. COBE discovered that the CMB (cosmic microwave background) — the oldest light in the universe — contained tiny temperature variations, the seeds for galaxies and other large-scale structure seen in the universe today. COBE data refined our knowledge of the CMB and provided key evidence supporting the big bang theory as an explanation for the origin of the universe. COBE investigators John Mather and George Smoot were awarded the 2006 Nobel Prize in physics for this work. COBE was retired on Dec. 23, 1993.

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COBE Satellite Marks 20th Anniversary

NASA’s Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) satellite rocketed into Earth orbit on Nov. 18, 1989, and quickly revolutionized our understanding of…

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