The first detection was announced on 11 February 2016. It was reported widely in the popular press, with the story given top billing in news outlets the world over. In the UK, newspaper headlines included 'Theory of Relativity proved' (Independent), and 'So it turns out Einstein was right all along...' (Guardian). In this article I will try and put this discovery in its proper context, explain just why it was so important, and what the key mathematical ideas were that made it possible. I will end by looking forward to what might come next. The connection with space is twofold. Gravitational wave signals themselves are produced by astronomical objects. But there are also ambitious plans to place a gravitational wave detector in space, as I will describe below.
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