RIP Puerto Rico's Arecibo radio telescope

Hooli

Hooli

Big Ugly
I had so hoped to visit this observatory one day. :cry

"The iconic Arecibo Observatory radio telescope in Puerto Rico has collapsed."

5LNlWDY.jpg
 
T

TylerW

Agitator
:( :( :(

I wonder if they are interested in trying to fund another telescope. I was wondering if they could find local artists to make stuff out of the material of the old telescope to help fund a new one.

I'd love a keyfob or a lamp shade mad of the former Arecibo material, assuming that its chemically safe.
 
ScorpioVI

ScorpioVI

كافر ლ(ಠ&
Thank you 2020. Now we can't even hear WHEN the aliens are planning on taking over.
 
Lucky Jones

Lucky Jones

Ride on #69
Last month there were cables that broke

"The cables that broke helped to support a 900-tonne platform of scientific instruments, which hangs above the main telescope dish. The first cable slipped out of its socket and smashed panels at the edge of the dish, but the second broke in half and tore huge gashes in a central portion of the dish."

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-03270-9

But, this damage is from the suspended instruments that fell.

They were already going to close the facility because of the previous damage, but the collapse today is just another kick in the dick.
 
Abacinator

Abacinator

Unholy Blasphemies
My great uncle, Henry Booker had some sort of involvement in the development of the Arecibo radio telescope. I had also hoped to visit it someday. Guess I'll be visiting the ruins :(
 
Mike95060

Mike95060

Work In Progress
Are you telling me huge, aging, complicated, scientific instruments need regular maintenance or something? Wouldn’t some source of funding be required for big projects like that?

I guess with all that space they could have rented it out like a billboard. That or sell naming rights maybe.

May it’s tombstone lie next to the SSC.
 
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Bowling4Bikes

Bowling4Bikes

Steee-riiike!
postcholo said:
Puerto Rico? what was it made of? clothes hangers?
Click to expand...

:laughing

RIP Arecibo.

I was watching Cosmos the other day, and I lrrrnd about the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST) in southern China. Might be a good alternative to check out (if we can...I don't know)
 
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auntiebling

auntiebling

megalomaniacal troglodyte
Staff member
Bowling4Bikes said:
:laughing

RIP Arecibo.

I was watching Cosmos the other day, and I lrrrnd about the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST) in southern China. Might be a good alternative to check out (if we can...I don't know)
Click to expand...

i watched a youtube video from which i'm taking this info, but the major feature that Arecibo had that wasn't available anywhere else is RADAR. there are other telescopes out there that can see similar or better resolution out there in the space so we still can still find asteroids but we've lost the ability to determine how far away they are which is important for at least determining accurate orbits, and thus when we're going to Go All Dinosaur. IIRC it was also useful for determining how fast planets are spinning on their axis
 
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PorradaVFR

PorradaVFR

The Temptations of Christ
I lived in Puerto Rico as a kid and thought Arecibo was cool as hell - the dish was suspended over a valley and larger than you might think (of course Goldeneye is a great reference). It’s a major loss to a bunch of scientific efforts and to my understanding the China dish, while massive, does not have the same capabilities that have been lost.

There are mumblings of rebuilding, but given that maintenance funds were insufficient I wonder how much more construction would be for a new one.

As to the material, to my recollection it was a bunch of metal mesh panels, I would guess aluminum(?). Always wanted to try riding / sliding on it. :D
 
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