Small Town Universe: Inside Green Bank's Radio Quiet Zone

Green Bank, West Virginia, is home to the world's largest fully steerable radio telescope. It's also the only town in the United States where cell phones and Wi-Fi are banned, so that the telescope can listen for faint signals from across the Universe undisturbed. This week, we bring you a special conversation recorded after The Planetary Society's virtual screening of "Small Town Universe," the documentary that follows the people whose lives are shaped by that place. Mat Kaplan, The Planetary Society's senior communications advisor, talks with filmmaker Katie Dellamaggiore and physicist Ellie White about making the film, the beauty and stakes of life at Green Bank, and the ongoing fight to keep the observatory funded.

Before that, Kate Howells, public communications specialist, previews the total solar eclipse crossing parts of the northern hemisphere on Aug. 12, the first visible from western Europe since 1999. And Bruce Betts, chief scientist, joins for What's Up, breaking down Hayabusa2's July 5 flyby of asteroid Torifune.

Related Links

• Small Town Universe 
• Find or request screenings of Small Town Universe 
• Green Bank Observatory 
• Go Green Bank Observatory 
• Katie Dellamaggiore - IMDb 
• Ellie White | Department of Physics and Astronomy | West Virginia University 
• Experience the Total Solar Eclipse 
• Hayabusa2’s flyby of asteroid Torifune
• Buy a Planetary Radio T-Shirt
• The Planetary Society shop
• The night sky
• The Downlink