+ Visit NASA.gov + Advanced Search   + About the Server   + Animation List   + How to Use the Server   + RSS Feeds Previous Animation Next Animation WMAP Hard at Work Scientists using NASA's Wilkinson Microwave Anistropy Probe (WMAP) have created the most detailed portrait of the infant Universe. By capturing the afterglow of the Big Bang, called the cosmic microwave background (CMB), we now believe the Universe to be 13.7 billion years old. Encoded in these patterns is much-anticipated information about the fundamental properties of the early Universe. WMAP launched on June 30, 2001.    This animation shows the WMAP spacecraft spinning, then reveals the data that it collected. Duration: 5.0 seconds Available formats:   1280x720 (30 fps) QUICKTIME 20 MB   1280x720 (60 fps) MPEG-4   3 MB   1280x720   Frames   320x180     PNG           205 KB   160x80       PNG           56 KB   80x40         PNG           15 KB   512x288 (30 fps) MPEG-1   3 MB   1280x720 (30 fps) MPEG-2   18 MB How to play our movies Animation Number: 10122 Animator: Dana Berry (Lead) Studio: NASA Completed: 2003-12-01 Writer: Erica Drezek (HTSI) Goddard TV Tape: G2007-007HD Keywords: SVS >> HDTV SVS >> Astrophysics SVS >> Early Universe SVS >> Cosmology SVS >> Big Bang SVS >> WMAP SVS >> Universe More Information on this topic available at: http://map.gsfc.nasa.gov     Please give credit for this item to NASA Back to Top + Privacy Policy and Important Notices + Reproduction Guidelines NASA Official: Content Contact: Curator: