Iconic radio telescope suffers catastrophic collapse

https://www.nationalgeographic.com ^ | By Nadia Drake PUBLISHED December 1, 2020

[HangnJudge]

Ok, I screwed up...

[BradyLS]

Barrington Crater (Meteor Crater) in Arizona, you mean?

[Red Badger]

8^).....................

[BradyLS]

That’s the one I’m thinking of.

[Flick Lives]

The iconic telescope has been in a precarious state since August, when an auxiliary cable supporting the equipment platform broke and fell through the radio dish, leaving a 100-foot-long gash in its reflective panels. The situation became more dire in early November, when one of the main cables supporting the equipment platform also snapped, leaving the telescope on the brink of a catastrophic collapse. Inspections revealed that other cables were showing signs of weakening and degradation, and over the last couple of weeks, engineers spotted ruptured strands and other signs of impending danger.

—

Arecibo Observatory is an analog of any government. Constructed a long time ago. It worked well initially. It worked well for may years. However, thru neglect or incompetence, weakness and corruption creeps into the system. Then the first warning signs of failure. Finally, utter catastrophic collapse.

[pepsi_junkie]

That's the problem with making up silly Bond film names. The sillier you make them, the more real they seem.

:-)

[Red Badger]

[Red Badger]

If only they had done a little preventive maintenance..................

[BradyLS]

I think what made the site in Puerto Rico attractive was it’s natural bowl and proximity to the equator for a greater sweep of the sky.

The Chinese have one so large that only part of the bowl is in use at any given time. That also helps to give it a greater sweeping area.

I agree that if they want to make a new one, Barrington/Meteor Crater would be a great place!

[HangnJudge]

Could use these too...

[Lockbox]

For decades, the facility has been a source of pride and inspiration for the island, and it has served as a crucial resource for local communities during natural disasters.

Yet you failed to maintain the facility...........

[BradyLS]

I did, too. I called it Barrington Crater twice. It has several several names, but scientists call it Barringer.

[wally_bert]

Not that I watch Joe Don Baker movies.

Mitchell!

[Chode]

wonder where all the maintenance money went???

[Red Badger]

Same place the Hurricane Disaster relief funds did.................

[ProtectOurFreedom]

Excellent analogy.

The deterioration greatly accelerated at the end. After having survived a very long time, there was only a short period of time from the first signs of degradation to the first cable giving way to utter and final collapse.

[EEGator]

I didn’t see Mitchell. To be fair, I was zero y/o.

I liked Fletch though.

[bigbob]

This is another example of governmental incompetence via deferred maintenance. And stupid thread-hijacking.

[wally_bert]

MST3K made fun of it.

[shotgun]