36.226 UG Terrier-Black Brant was launched from White Sands Missile Range, NM on February 25, 2009. The purpose of this mission is to investigate the spectral and spatial properties of the extra-galactic near-infrared background by observing seven science targets. Dr. James J. Bock/California Institute of Technology is the principal investigator.

Cosmic Infrared Background Experiment (CIBER) is designed to conduct a pioneering search for Infra-Red Background (IRB) anisotropies, and is specifically designed to measure fluctuations at wavelengths and spatial scales where a putative first-light galaxy signal can be best detected and discriminated from foregrounds.

CIBER consists of a two-color wide-field imager to probe first-light galaxy IRB anisotropies; a high-resolution narrow-band spectrometer to determine the absolute zodiacal foreground brightness using the reflected intensity of the 854.2 nm Ca II Fraunhofer line; and a low-resolution absolute near-infrared spectrometer to search for a redshifted Lyman-limit feature in the spectral region between 0.7 – 1.8 μm.

CIBER can conduct high sensitivity observations in a short sounding rocket flight, eliminating the atmospheric airglow emission that makes absolute spectroscopy and high-fidelity degree-scale imaging virtually impossible from a ground-based or balloon-borne platform. Unlike existing or planned space-borne facilities, only CIBER incorporates the highly specialized instrumentation needed to carry out these measurements. CIBER will field a 1024 x 1024 InGaAs array being developed and tested at JPL for the Joint Dark Energy Mission (JDEM), representing the first scientific demonstration of this array technology.