The American Physical Society (APS) has designated the two facilities of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) historic physics sites. LIGO made history in 2016 when it made the first direct detection of gravitational waves—ripples in space and time. At a dedication on June 20, 2018, in Livingston, Louisiana, two plaques were presented—one for each of the twin LIGO observatories in Livingston, Louisiana, and in Hanford, Washington.
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Whitney Clavin
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From left to right: Michael Landry, the head of LIGO Hanford; France Córdova (PhD '79), director of the National Science Foundation; Rainer Weiss, professor of physics, emeritus, at MIT; Joseph Giaime, head of LIGO Livingston; Roger Falcone, president of the APS; David Reitze, executive director of the LIGO Laboratory; and F. King Alexander, president of Louisiana State University (LSU). [VIEW LARGER]
Credit: LSU
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