PLANCK

PLANCK is classified as:

Space & Earth Science

NORAD ID: 34938

Int'l Code: 2009-026B

Launch date: May 14, 2009
Source: European Space Agency (ESA)
Launch site: FRENCH GUIANA (FRGUI)

Planck will act as a cosmic time machine to give humans a look at the universe as it appeared less than 400,000 years after the Big Bang. The 600 million euro, or $820 million, mission will sharpen cosmologists' understanding of how the early universe transformed from a ball of dense hot gas to the formation of complex structures like galaxies and stars. The Planck observatory will observe the cosmic microwave background radiation left over about 380,000 years after the Big Bang. The CMB is considered the first light from the young universe after matter and light could exist independently as the universe cooled.