WMAP (Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe)

This is the reconstructed full-scale model of the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP). The object contains flight and flight-like parts, reconstructed and reassembled for display. Three of the four reflector elements in this array are flight backups and one is a mock-up. The framework is the original structural thermal engineering model of the receiver box for WMAP. It contains the waveguides and detectors for the WMAP satellite that were fed by the two oppositely directed telescopes. The black anodized skeletal support is non-flight. Some walls and covers have been removed and replaced by clear plastic for display. Prominent above the receiver box are the two oppositely directed microwave collector dishes. These 1.4 by 1.6 meter diameter dishes were large enough to achieve the angular resolution needed to discriminate between various cosmological models. They reflect energy into ice-cream-cone shaped feeds that direct the radiation into 10 passively cooled microwave radiometers operating between 20 and 100 GHz. The display does not include a disk-shaped thermal reflector system seen in images of the deployed flight object. It does include the receiver wave guide system A20060634003.