Cosmic Background Explorer
The cosmic microwave background (CMB) was discovered by Bell Labs in 1964. Greater understanding of the universe's CMB provided greater understanding of the universe's topology. In order to understand these CMB results, NASA supported development of two exploratory satellites, the Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) in 1989 and the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) in 2001.