Iconic Arecibo Radio Telescope Nears End of Life

[engine]

The iconic Arecibo radio telescope in Puerto Rico is to be demolished as a result of serious failures in the structure. For 57 years the radio telescope helped radio astronomers with research into pulsars, and even helped confirm exoplanet discoveries.

According to reports, earlier this year one of the cables supporting the instruments had broken, and after extensive investigations one other cable broke, resulting in additional stresses on the remaining cables. It's going to be too dangerous to repair.

[bbc.co.uk...]

[not2easy]

It has been nearing an end for quite a while. Inevitable since the damage from Hurricane Maria was not repaired since 2017. It was still operating largely on the original pre-desktop computers that were installed in the 1959 set up. Cornell University stopped funding it at least a decade ago and then the Florida University helped out.

[engine]

I find it quite amazing that it says the instrument cluster weighs almost 900-tonnes.
Have you been to see it? I would have liked to have seen it, but the structure is now too dangerous.

[JorgeV]

They certainly caught a signal from E.T. , and don't want us to know, so they made up a story about a broken cable. (Conspiracy theory mode) :)

[NickMNS]

Here is a video tour. It is an absolutely amazing device. At 305m in diameter, it's a little bigger than my backyard telescope.
[youtube.com...]

Future use? The world's largest skateboard bowl.

[not2easy]

Those aluminum panels are nearly paper thin, wouldn't do very well for skateboards. I have been in the control room, a friend worked there and invited us in for a tour back in 2009 (iirc). The equipment used for data relied on truly antique machines. much of it pre-windows, DOS, OSX, WIN 95 and 98. Mostly scrounged from discarded equipment from other government facilities like NORAD when that was closed. I get vertigo so was not inclined to go out the catwalk. They had an in-house machine shop for making replacement parts. They needed their own turbine generator as well, the main unit pulled 2 million watts.

[blend27]

-- Future use? The world's largest skateboard bowl. --

Boom Shakalaka!

[phranque]

that 900 ton structure fell through the dish below this morning.

[tangor]

Guess there won't be another James Bond movie made on location...

[not2easy]

There was just one major cable left supporting the main dome, an earthquake to the west took care of that. When it snapped, it broke the tops off the support columns and took out part of one of the buildings.

[NickMNS]

Well I guess we can forget about the skateboarding!

[engine]

It's probably too dangerous to harvest the scrap metal.

End of an era.

[JorgeV]

Hello,

Now, it collapsed.

Giant Puerto Rico radio telescope collapses, following damage
[nbcnews.com...]

Puerto Rican scientists, shattered by collapse of Arecibo Observatory, push to rebuild
[msn.com...]

[Key_Master]

Hopefully this pushes the scientific community to build a bigger and more advanced radio telescope.

[iamlost]

Ralph Gaume, director of the US National Science Foundation's division of astronomical sciences, said, today, in a press conference call that the the NSF is not closing the Arecibo Observatory.

Apparently the NSF had the funds in hand for repairs; now (implied) it is a matter of whether there is (1) political will for a replacement (probably a Democratic/Biden given and possibly a cross party given that China built a larger one (the 500 meter Tianyan: Sky/Heaven Eye [en.m.wikipedia.org] in 2016) and (2) what a replacement, of what was a 50+ year old build, might encompass, or perhaps surpass...

[not2easy]

The one in China is larger (in diameter) but it does not have the wavelength range sensitivity the Arecibo scope had. That was unique to it. There are newer and larger dishes of other types but none has the range sensitivity the Arecibo scope had. Good to hear they plan to rebuild it, it needed some updating.

[NickMNS]

it is a matter of whether there is (1) political will for a replacement (probably a Democratic/Biden given and possibly a cross party given that China built a larger one

Why wait for Biden, Trump can still take action, one stop at Costco and then he'll be ready to through rolls of paper towels at it. Hole in one! The target should be big enough...

RE China and Space. China landed an unmanned probe on the moon yesterday. This may be the start of a new space race.
[nytimes.com...]

[not2easy]

TheVerge has posted a short video, shot via control room camera and a drone of the moment the cables snapped: [theverge.com...]
You can see the dome as it falls. :(

[NickMNS]

That is some crazy footage. Why was the drone there at the time? It seems like more than a coincidence.

[not2easy]

From the article

NSF, which oversees Arecibo, had been doing hourly monitoring of the observatory with drones, ever since engineers warned that the structure was on the verge of collapsing [theverge.com] in November. “I think we were just lucky and the drone operator was very adept to see what was happening and be able to turn the camera,” Ashley Zauderer, the NSF program manager for Arecibo Observatory, said during a press conference.

..so not a coincidence.

[NickMNS]

I missed the "hourly monitoring". I haven't had my coffee yet.