Developing missions to go far Beyond Einstein will require advanced technologies that far exceed what exists today, but they are within our reach if we approach the ultimate goals systematically, mission building upon mission, proving and refining instrumentation. Strategic investments in hardware, software, and astrophysical theory will lead the way forward to two missions in the coming decades:

Big Bang Observer

To explore the universe's origin, a Big Bang Observer will build upon the LISA mission to directly measure gravitational waves generated by inflation. These waves are still coursing through space today. In contrast to the Inflation Probe’s measurement of frozen imprints of much longer waves on the microwave background, the Big Bang Observer will observe gravitational waves in their original form, which date back to an epoch just moments after the Big Bang. The Big Bang Observer would thus give us a direct, unobstructed view of inflating space-time, a truly profound achievement.

Black Hole Imager

To explore the behavior of space and time in extreme gravity, Constellation-X will measure the spectral signatures of gas swirling into black holes, and LISA will record the tune to which black holes dance around each other. But there is no substitute for a direct image. A Black Hole Imager, based on a technique known as X-ray interferometry, would be able to take this epochal picture, revealing a dark spot representing the outer boundary (event horizon) of a black hole.