Before leading WMAP, Bennett was the Deputy Principal Investigator for the Differential Microwave Radiometers (DMR) instrument on the Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) mission that discovered the anisotropy of the cosmic microwave background radiation.
Prior to leading the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP), Bennett was involved in a project that discovered the anisotropy of the cosmic microwave background radiation, specifically as the Deputy Principal Investigator for the Differential Microwave Radiometers (DMR) instrument on the Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) mission.