Facing collapse, the famed Arecibo Observatory will be demolished

The Verge ^ | Nov 19, 2020, 11:30am EST | Loren Grush

[BenLurkin]

The world-famous Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico, known for helping scientists peer into deep space and listen for distant radio waves, is set to be decommissioned and demolished after engineers concluded that the facility’s structure is at risk of a collapse. While teams will try to salvage some parts of the observatory, the decommission will bring an end to the popular 57-year-old telescope, which has been featured in numerous films and television shows.

The decision comes after two major cables failed at the facility within the last few months, causing significant damage to the observatory. The National Science Foundation (NSF), which oversees Arecibo, assessed the impact of the cable breaks and found that the facility’s other cables could also fail soon. If some of the remaining cables break, engineers fear that the 900-ton suspended platform above the facility could come crashing down on Arecibo’s iconic 1,000-foot-wide dish. It’s also possible that three surrounding towers, which stand at more than 300 feet tall, could topple over in any direction, potentially hitting the visitor’s center or other important nearby buildings.

The agency’s engineers have evacuated the facility and set up a safety exclusion zone around the spaces where people could be in danger if there was a collapse. Meanwhile, engineers are now working on a plan for how to take the facility apart safely, which could involve the use of helicopters and maybe even explosive demolitions

[pierrem15]

It's another sign of national decline, to let a premier scientific instrument like this fall apart from lack of maintenance due to lack of funding, while we give people EBT cards so they can eat themselves to the point of dying from diabetes or obesity.

What's better, more science? Or more free s--t for minorities?

[Chode]

who’s been paying for it’s upkeep/maint all these years, and has any of it actually been spent on it???

[tbw2]

Fortunately, open source antenna development for radio astronomy is under way.

LibreCube – Open Source Space and Earth Exploration
https://librecube.org/

[beef]

Very sad development. A lot of good work was done there.

[cll]

I’m in Puerto Rico and it just broke: the platform finally collapsed this morning. Looking for an English-langiage story but perhaps you can fin one faster.

https://twitter.com/DeborahTiempo/status/1333741751069192195?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1333741751069192195%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.elvocero.com%2Factualidad%2Fcolapsa-plataforma-del-observatorio-de-arecibo%2Farticle_974f2bb4-33cd-11eb-b51b-ff66617df00b.html