4. CHECKLIST FOR THE NEXT DECADE As I have been careful to
stress the basic tenets of Inflation + Cold Dark Matter have not
yet been confirmed definitively. However, a flood of high-
quality cosmological data is coming, and could make the case in
the next decade. Here is my version of how "maybe" becomes
"yes." - Map of the Universe at 300,000 yrs. COBE mapped the CMB
with an angular resolution of around 10°; two new satellite
missions, NASA's MAP (launch 2000) and ESA's Planck Surveyor
(launch 2007), will map the CMB with 100 times better resolution
(0.1°). From these maps of the Universe as it existed at a
simpler time, long before the first stars and galaxies, will
come a gold mine of information: Among other things, a
definitive measurement of a determination of the Hubble constant
to a precision of better than 5%; a characterization of the
primeval lumpiness; and possible detection of the relic gravity
waves from inflation. The precision maps of the CMB that will be
made are crucial to establishing Inflat