It is hoped that the Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (LIGO) will be capable of detecting gravitational waves created by cosmic events such as supernova explosions and galactic collisions. The LIGO has two L-shaped instruments, and one of the observatory's two sites is LIGO-Livingston, which is located in a dense Louisiana forest near Baton Rouge. LIGO is managed by the LIGO Laboratory at the California Institute of Technology and also has a location in Hanford, Washington. More than 180 staff work on the project, along with 400 researchers and 35 groups globally. The project is funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) and work began full time in November 2005. Physicists and astronomers want LIGO to have enough sensitivity to detect the presence of a gravitational wave and also to measure intensity, duration, and frequency, as well as any changes in those characteristics over time. Just as DNA can identify a difference, gravitational waves from a supernova should look very different from those generated by a black hole that is swallowing a nearby star, or by two galaxies tearing each other apart, or by other sorts of astronomical destruction. In both LIGO locations, sensors monitor thousands of signals, and the information is fed to the two sites control rooms, where it is shown on many computer monitors as colorful blinking images. The components of LIGO and its actions are described in some detail.