Explorer 66
E1036261
Explorer 66, better known as the Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE), is a NASA satellite launched in 1989 that made landmark measurements of the cosmic microwave background radiation, providing key evidence for the Big Bang theory.
All labels observed (1)
| Label | Occurrences |
|---|---|
| Explorer 66 canonical | 1 |
How this entity was disambiguated
This entity first appeared as the object of triple T13377762 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.
NED1
Entity disambiguation (via context triple)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: Explorer 66 Context triple: [Cosmic Background Explorer, alsoKnownAs, Explorer 66]
-
A.
Explorer 71
Explorer 71 is a NASA Explorer-series scientific satellite better known as the Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE), designed to study energetic particles from the Sun, the interplanetary medium, and galactic sources.
-
B.
Explorer 6
Explorer 6 was an early NASA Earth-orbiting satellite launched in 1959 that returned some of the first images of Earth from space and studied the planet’s radiation environment.
-
C.
Voyager 6
Voyager 6 is a fictional deep-space probe from the Star Trek universe that evolves into the powerful entity known as V’Ger after being transformed by an advanced machine civilization.
-
D.
Explorer 49
Explorer 49 was a NASA lunar-orbiting radio astronomy satellite launched in 1973 to study low-frequency radio emissions from space.
-
E.
The Explorer
The Explorer is the adventurous mascot representing La Salle University's spirit of discovery and exploration.
- F. None of above. chosen
- G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.
NED2
Entity disambiguation (via description)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: Explorer 66 Target entity description: Explorer 66, better known as the Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE), is a NASA satellite launched in 1989 that made landmark measurements of the cosmic microwave background radiation, providing key evidence for the Big Bang theory.
-
A.
Explorer 71
Explorer 71 is a NASA Explorer-series scientific satellite better known as the Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE), designed to study energetic particles from the Sun, the interplanetary medium, and galactic sources.
-
B.
Explorer 6
Explorer 6 was an early NASA Earth-orbiting satellite launched in 1959 that returned some of the first images of Earth from space and studied the planet’s radiation environment.
-
C.
Voyager 6
Voyager 6 is a fictional deep-space probe from the Star Trek universe that evolves into the powerful entity known as V’Ger after being transformed by an advanced machine civilization.
-
D.
Explorer 49
Explorer 49 was a NASA lunar-orbiting radio astronomy satellite launched in 1973 to study low-frequency radio emissions from space.
-
E.
The Explorer
The Explorer is the adventurous mascot representing La Salle University's spirit of discovery and exploration.
- F. None of above. chosen
Statements (52)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
NASA spacecraft
ⓘ
artificial satellite ⓘ cosmic microwave background observatory ⓘ space observatory ⓘ |
| abbreviation |
DIRBE
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
DMR NERFINISHED ⓘ FIRAS NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| alsoKnownAs |
COBE
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
Cosmic Background Explorer NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| apoapsis | ~900 km ⓘ |
| awardsAssociated | 1992 Nobel Prize in Physics (to John C. Mather and George F. Smoot, based on COBE results) NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| catalogDesignation | COBE NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| CMBTemperatureMeasured | ~2.725 K ⓘ |
| countryOfOperator |
United States of America
ⓘ
surface form:
United States
|
| deactivationDate | 1993-12-23 ⓘ |
| inclination | ~99 degrees ⓘ |
| instrument |
Differential Microwave Radiometers
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
Diffuse Infrared Background Experiment NERFINISHED ⓘ Far Infrared Absolute Spectrophotometer NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| keyDiscovery |
confirmation that the CMB spectrum is a near-perfect blackbody
ⓘ
detection of anisotropies in the cosmic microwave background ⓘ |
| launchContractor | McDonnell Douglas NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| launchDate | 1989-11-18 ⓘ |
| launchSite |
Space Launch Complex 2W
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
Vandenberg Air Force Base NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| launchVehicle | Delta 5920-8 NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| launchYear | 1989 ⓘ |
| manufacturer | NASA Goddard Space Flight Center NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| massAtLaunch | ~2227 kg ⓘ |
| missionDuration | ~4 years ⓘ |
| missionType |
astrophysics
ⓘ
cosmology ⓘ observatory ⓘ |
| notableResult |
first detailed full-sky map of the cosmic microwave background
ⓘ
measurement of CMB temperature to high precision ⓘ |
| operator | NASA ⓘ |
| orbitalPeriod | ~103 minutes ⓘ |
| orbitRegime | Sun-synchronous orbit NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| orbitType | low Earth orbit ⓘ |
| partOf | NASA Explorer series NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| periapsis | ~900 km ⓘ |
| primaryObjective |
measure the cosmic microwave background radiation
ⓘ
test predictions of the Big Bang theory ⓘ |
| principalInvestigator | George F. Smoot NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| program | Explorer program NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| projectScientist | John C. Mather NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| providedEvidenceFor | Big Bang theory NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| scientificDiscipline |
cosmology
ⓘ
observational astronomy ⓘ physical cosmology ⓘ |
| spaceAgency | NASA ⓘ |
| spacecraftBus | custom design ⓘ |
How these facts were elicited
The pipeline generated the facts above by prompting gpt-5.1 with this entity's name + description and the instruction below.
Instruction
You are a knowledge base construction expert. Given a subject entity and a description of it, return factual statements that you know for the subject as a JSON list of dictionaries(triples), where keys must be "subject", "predicate" and "object". The number of facts may be very high, between 25 to 50 or more, for very popular subjects. For less popular subjects, the number of facts can be very low, like 5 or 10. # Requirements - If you don't know the subject at all, return an empty list. - If the subject is not a named entity, return an empty list. - Include at least one triple where predicate is "instanceOf". - Do not get too wordy. - Separate several objects into multiple triples with one object.
Input
Subject: Explorer 66 Description of subject: Explorer 66, better known as the Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE), is a NASA satellite launched in 1989 that made landmark measurements of the cosmic microwave background radiation, providing key evidence for the Big Bang theory.
Referenced by (1)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.