Gravitational waves are expected  from  many different astrophysical sources: brief transients from  violent events like supernova explosions and collisions of neutron  stars and black holes, coalescence of  compact binary systems,  continuous waves from rotating systems, and stochastic signals from cosmological origin or unresolved transients. The LIGO gravitational wave detectors have achieved  unprecedented sensitivity to gravitational waves, and future upgrades promise to open a window to a new observational science.  I will describe the present status of the detectors, describe the results obtained from the data taken already, and discuss the possibilities for the near future.