Pristine

PRISTINE (Polarized Radiation Interferometer for Spectral disTortions and INflation Exploration) is a space mission recently proposed in response to ESA’s Call for Missions F. It aims to address two key questions in ESA’s Cosmic Vision 2015–2025 program:

1. What is the cause of inflation?
2. How has the universe evolved?

To answer the first question, PRISTINE will map the temperature and polarization anisotropies of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB), which will allow us to measure the large-scale polarization patterns caused by relic gravitational waves produced during inflation.

The second question will be addressed by measuring the FDC spectrum with a precision two orders of magnitude better than the limits obtained by the COBE/FIRAS instrument in 1992.