Wednesday 24 March at 3pm in the JAC Library

Mark Halpern - UBC

"Building the Microwave Anisotropy Probe"

ABSTRACT: "The Microwave Anisotropy Probe (MAP) is a Midex mission to map the whole sky in five frequency bands in which the Cosmic Microwave Background is bright. The goal is to produce a data set from which our cosmic history can be inferred with startling precision. Strict control of systematic errors is crucial to the success of this mission and drives almost all experimental design decisions. The science team is involved in almost all aspects of producing the experiment, including hand building and testing most of the instrument. This talk is a progress report on that process."