images

Satellite WMAP -Illustration

by

Nasa/Novapix

Reference

e-sou12-90001

Date

2006-11-16

An artist's depiction of WMAP in orbit. Launched on June 30, 2001, WMAP maintains a distant orbit about the second Lagrange Point, or "L2," four times farther than the Moon and a million miles from Earth.The Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) is a NASA satellite whose mission is to survey the sky to measure the temperature of the radiant heat left over from the Big Bang. The satellite was launched by a Delta II rocket on June 30, 2001, at 3:46 p.m. EDT from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, USA.