Gravity’s Cosmic Symphony with Kelly Holley-Bockelmann

About This Episode

Could LISA detect primordial black holes or gravitational waves from the Big Bang? Neil deGrasse Tyson and co-host Chuck Nice explore LISA and the future of gravitational wave astronomy with astrophysicist Kelly Holley-Bockelmann.

How does LISA differ from LIGO? Learn about LISA, the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna, and how these spacecraft will help us detect gravitational waves from space. Why does it need three spacecraft millions of kilometers apart, linked by laser beams? And how can orbiting cubes of gold and platinum reveal the secrets of colliding black holes?

Kelly explains why supermassive black hole mergers are her favorite cosmic events, how LISA could detect EMRIs–tiny black holes orbiting giants–and why the mission’s three-node triangular design matters. We explore the engineering challenges, from solar storms to relativity itself, and why interferometry is one of the most precise measuring tools ever invented.

The conversation turns to funding, politics, and why U.S. withdrawal could leave China to take the lead. What technologies might spin off from LISA? Could we one day have GPS, but for the entire solar system? And could LISA finally detect primordial black holes or the faint gravitational hum of the Big Bang itself?

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