A satellite launched in 2001 to study microwave background radiation. In 2003 a full-sky picture was obtained of the early universe (380 000 years after the big bang) showing temperature fluctuations at high resolution. The results supported the big-bang and inflation theories, and gave an age for the universe of 13.7×109 years. They also indicated that about 70% of the energy in the universe is dark energy. WMAP is named in honour of the US cosmologist and WMAP team member David Wilkinson, who died in 2002. See also Planck satellite.
http://map.gsfc.nasa.gov/ The NASA site for WMAP