There are other scientific insturments at the facility like a 12-meter radio telescope and LIDAR facility. In a statement Tuesday, NSF said it will authorize UCF to pay Arecibo staff and take actions to continue research work at the observatory. We will continue to work with the NSF and other stakeholders to find ways to support the science mission at Arecibo.” We already have engineers on site to help assess the damage and determine the stability and safety of the remaining structure. “Safety of personnel is our number one priority. “We knew this was a possibility, but it is still heartbreaking to see,” says Elizabeth Klonoff, the Vice President for Research at the University of Central Florida, which manages the facility for the NSF. Engineering surveys revealed it would be too risky to try and stabilize the damage. Another cable broke last month, further destabilizing the structure. The NSF said last week it would shut down the observatory due to safety concerns, after a cable snapped over the summer, damaging the dish.
Our focus is now on assessing the damage, finding ways to restore operations at other parts of the observatory, and working to continue supporting the scientific community, and the people of Puerto Rico.” “When engineers advised NSF that the structure was unstable and presented a danger to work teams and Arecibo staff, we took their warnings seriously and continued to emphasize the importance of safety for everyone involved. “We are saddened by this situation but thankful that no one was hurt,” said NSF Director Sethuraman Panchanathan. The University of Central Florida, which manages the operation of the facility, said it is working with the NSF and engineers to assess the damage while maintaining safety. The telescope's support cables also dropped to the dish below. Based on initial findings, the top section of all three support towers broke off causing the 900-ton instrument support platform to fall. The investigation into what caused the fall is ongoing. Damage sustained at the Arecibo Observatory 305-meter telescope. AST, according to the National Science Foundation. An instrument platform of the 305-meter telescope fell causing the damage, but no one was hurt. I would like to see it rebuilt with new modern equipment.The Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico collapsed around 7:55 a.m. Both are more northern, so Arecibo is a near irreplaceable instrument, even though it's quite old technically these days. There are two other radio observatories that come close to Arecibo in size and sensitivity. Build it further North and you can see more northerly objects, but you lose an awful lot of the Southern ones. The position close to the Equator helps too in what it can look at. To build one similar, you'd have to either do a lot o Earth Moving or else be extremely lucky. Moon Doggy said:When I saw the condition the great telescope was in I was shocked and saddened that the people there have been neglecting it for years, even way before this alleged mishap I caught a recent photo of it a year ago and it was crumbling and half of the base white color was gone and over growth of bushes were coming through, on space shows for years look great, but it was looking like it should have been condemned, you'd never see that in the US, I say instead of giving them the money to fix (possible motive) move it to the US!Īrecibo exists because it sits in a dish shaped natural bowl in the hills there in Puerto Rico. Related: Arecibo Observatory weathers Tropical Storm Isaias to track potentially dangerous asteroid Some of the work that has been put on hold until the telescope is fixed include studies of gravitational waves and pulsars, Cordova said. While the observatory is best known for its work in the search for life and potentially hazardous near-Earth asteroids, astronomers use it for a variety of space research and observations.
The Arecibo Observatory has been shut down indefinitely until the telescope can be repaired. UCF manages the observatory for the National Science Foundation. Repairs were continuing in August when a 13-centimeter-thick auxiliary cable, one of six strung between three support towers and the suspended antenna platform, detached from its socket on the platform. But if the cable had snapped during the daytime, with staff working on site, Arecibo employees could have been injured, Ramon Lugo, director of the Florida Space Institute at the University of Central Florida (UCF), told Science Magazine. The observatory suffered damage when Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico in 2017. EDT (0645 GMT) on Monday, as the facility was closed at the time. No one was injured when the accident happened at approximately 2:45 a.m. (Image credit: University of Central Florida) A photo of the support cable that broke on Aug.
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