The Simons Observatory: A New Investigation into the Formation of the Early Universe Share By Heising-Simons Foundation on 4/21/2016 on 4/21/2016 The Simons Foundation awarded a $38.4 million grant, and the Heising-Simons awarded a $1.7 million grant, to establish the Simons Observatory, a new astronomy facility in Chile’s Atacama Desert. The Simons Observatory will merge and expand existing efforts to explore the evolution of the universe from its earliest moments to today. The project is a …