The Planck mission, launched on May 14, 2009, is measuring the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) over a broad range of far-infrared wavelengths, and to an unprecedented accuracy. The measurements will enable the extraction of essentially all of the information that can be obtained from CMB temperature anisotropies. Planck is expected to provide answers to many fundamental questions about the early history and evolution of our universe. Specifically, it is giving scientists the data needed to:

• set tight constraints on cosmological parameters
• study the ionization history of the Universe
• probe the dynamics of the inflationary era
• test fundamental physics beyond inflation