Overview

Green Bank, West Virginia is home to the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, which houses the world’s most sensitive radio telescope. SMALL TOWN UNIVERSE explores not only the science behind the center, but also what it brings to Green Bank. Requiring a radio-silent environment to conduct its research, the center supports a community removed from the omnipresent impact of digital devices, in addition to industry and employment opportunities not commonly found in rural communities. But as the observatory faces potential closure, there poses a threat to the community’s way of life: the local economy supported by the jobs it creates, the well-being of the individuals who have sought Green Bank as a necessary health refuge for the lack of radio waves, and the incalculable scientific benefits it provides to the field of astronomy.