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Tools of DiscoveryThe next big window to the universe may be through gravitational waves of cosmic origin. Through a project called LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory)--a joint effort of the California Institute of Technology, MIT, and 20 other members of the LIGO scientific collaboration--scientists expect to see the universe in a fundamentally new way. Unlike electromagnetic waves such as radio waves or X-rays, gravity waves are not scattered as they travel but they are very difficult to detect. In the northwest corner of the MIT campus, huge metal tanks resembling a large distillery are being used to develop the next generation detector in a project called LIGO Advanced System Test Interferometer (LASTI). Space-Based Surveillance MIT's Lincoln Laboratory Space Control programs develop satellite surveillance technology and systems used for tracking and assessing man-made satellites at ranges up to and exceeding 40,000 km. One project is the Midcourse Space Experiment (MSX), the core space technology effort of the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization. On board the MSX satellite launched in 1996 is the Space-Based Visible sensor, a visible-band electro-optical camera designed at Lincoln Laboratory to perform the first technical and functional demonstration of space-based space surveillance. Future tools for space exploration may come from the Space Nanotechnology Laboratory (SNL) at the Center for Space Research. SNL is working to develop advanced lithographic and nano-fabrication technology for building high performance space instrumentation, such as x-ray telescopes, and subnanometer-accuracy metrology and assembly technology. Beyond LIGO, MIT has other ground-based observatories:
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Copyright ©2003 Massachusetts
Institute of Technology