The Vera C. Rubin Observatory recently launched its 10-year astronomical survey to create the most comprehensive, cinematic record of the universe. While thousands of people played a part in making the facility a reality, Tony Tyson played a formative role, acting initially as the facility’s founding director and now its chief scientist. We sat down with Tyson to discuss his background and the technology behind the Rubin Observatory’s revolutionary camera.

From a mountaintop in Chile, under clear dark skies, NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory has begun the revolutionary Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST). The ten-year survey is Rubin’s signature campaign to create the most comprehensive, cinematic record of the Universe in history.