Primordial Inflation Polarization Explorer: Status and Plans

The Primordial Inflation Polarization Explorer is a balloon-borne instrument to measure the polarization of the cosmic microwave background in order to detect the characteristic signature of gravity waves created during an inflationary epoch in the early universe. PIPER combines cold /I.G K\ optics, 5120 bolometric detectors, and rapid polarization modulation using VPM grids to achieve both high sensitivity and excellent control of systematic errors. I will discuss the current status and plans for the PIPER instrument.