COBE

USA

COsmic Background Explorer - Also called Explorer 66

Launch data:

Designation	20322 / 89089A
Launch date	18 Nov 1989
Launch site	Va, SLC-2W
Launch vehicle	Delta-5920 (#189)
Mission	Scientific:astronomy
Earth orbit:
Perigee/Apogee	872/886 km
Inclination	99°
Period	102.5 min

Studies the thermical radiation of the sky (gave its precise temperature: 2.735 K).

Spacecraft data:

Prime contractor
Platform
Operator	NASA
Mass at launch	kg
Dry Mass	kg
Basic shape
Dimension (m)
Equipment
Solar array
Stabilization
Propulsion
DC power
Design lifetime

Description:

The Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) spacecraft is the predecessor to the WMAP Project. COBE was assembled in clean rooms at Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. It was launched into an Earth orbit to make a full sky map of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) radiation, leftover from the Big Bang. The cone shield protects the instruments from microwave signal interference from the Earth, Sun and Moon.

Mission details

The Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) was launched by Delta 5920 from Vandenberg on Nov 18, 1989. COBE carries three instruments to study the diffuse extragalactic background radiation. The DMR experiment is searching for spatial variations in the 3K microwave background radiation: is the radiation slightly more intense in some directions than in others? The FIRAS experiment is studying the spectrum of the background radiation: how does the intensity of the radiation vary with wavelength? Is there an extra source of background radiation in the submillimetre wavelength range? The DIRBE experiment will study the amount of radiation at somewhat shorter infrared wavelengths, mapping the distribution of dust in our Galaxy and possibly from galaxies at high red shift.

End of life

Out of service

01 May 1997

Ref.: #6, #7(JR30), #15, #27 - update: 20.01.11

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