NASA | WMAP--From the Archives

On June 20, 2012, Dr. Charles Bennett and the WMAP team were awarded the Gruber Cosmology Prize. The Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) was built and launched by NASA to measure a remnant of the early universe - its oldest light. The conditions of the early times are imprinted on this light. It is the result of what happened earlier, and a backlight for the later development of the universe. This light lost energy as the universe expanded over 13.7 billion years, so WMAP now sees the light as microwaves. By making accurate measurements of microwave patterns, WMAP has answered many longstanding questions about the universe's age, composition and development. This video from Goddard's tape archive features Dr. Bennett after the first results were announced in 2003.