NASA unveiled a prototype telescope for a new gravitational wave detection mission in space, part of the European Space Agency-led LISA mission in partnership with NASA. The goal of the LISA mission is to position three spacecraft in a triangular orbit measuring nearly 1.6 million miles on each side, following Earth’s orbit around the Sun. Each spacecraft will carry two telescopes to track their siblings using infrared laser beams, capable of measuring distances down to a trillionth of a meter. Gravitational waves, first theorized by Albert Einstein in 1916 and detected almost a century later by the LIGO Scientific Collaboration, are created during black hole collisions and can be spotted when the spacecraft deviate from their characteristic pattern. The LISA mission, set to launch in the mid-2030s, holds enormous potential for enhancing our understanding of the universe, particularly regarding phenomena like black holes and the Big Bang that are challenging to study using other methods, as stated on the official mission website.
