Massive Puerto Rico telescope featured in James Bond movie collapses

By Joey Roulette

 

A view of the structure of the telescope at Puerto Rico's Arecibo Observatory following its collapse in Arecibo, Puerto Rico, December 1, 2020. REUTERS/Gabriella Baez

 

(Reuters) - A massive radio telescope at Puerto Rico's Arecibo Observatory - one of the world's largest - collapsed on Tuesday after sustaining severe damage since August, officials said, following 57 years of astronomical discoveries.

 

The deteriorating telescope's 900-ton instrument platform, suspended by cables 450 feet (137 meters) above a 1,000-foot-wide (305 meters) bowl-shaped reflector dish, fell on Tuesday morning, the U.S. National Science Foundation said. No injuries were reported, it added.

 

The telescope - which received radio waves from space - had been used by scientists around the world to hunt for possible signatures of extraterrestrial life, study distant planets and find potentially hazardous asteroids. It also gained fame after pivotal scenes in the 1995 James Bond film "GoldenEye" starring Pierce Brosnan were shot there.

 

Two cables supporting the reflector dish had broken since August, causing damage and forcing officials to close the observatory as engineering firms retained by the University of Central Florida, which manages the observatory, studied ways to repair the damage.

 

In November, the engineering reviews led the NSF and the university to conclude that efforts to repair the structure would be too dangerous and that it would have to be demolished.

 

The NSF said that initial findings indicated that the top section of all three of the telescope's support towers broke off and that as the instrument platform fell, the telescope's support cables also plummeted.

 

The observatory also includes other scientific assets such as a 40-foot (12-meter) telescope used for radio astronomy research and a facility used to study the Earth's upper atmosphere and ionosphere. The observatory's learning center, located next to the telescope, sustained significant damage from falling cables, the NSF said.

 

"We are saddened by this situation but thankful that no one was hurt," NSF Director Sethuraman Panchanathan said in a statement. "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."

 

The NSF said it will authorize the university to continue paying Arecibo staff and to come up with a plan to continue research at the observatory. The agency said it has not determined the cause of the initial cable failure in August.

 

(Reporting by Joey Roulette in Washington; Editing by Will Dunham)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-12-02

 

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Anyone want to bet the storms and pathetic repairs were the real causebut the government will blame trump lol

One of the telescope's functions was an important part of planetary defence/warning for asteroid approaches and obtaining info thereof.

A post violating Fair Use Policy removed along with replies.  Also, troll graphics.   It is a discussion forum.  

 

11 hours ago, TKDfella said:

One of the telescope's functions was an important part of planetary defence/warning for asteroid approaches and obtaining info thereof.

No need to worry about that - it just means that we now have to rely on China to give us these warnings from the world's biggest radio telescope.

 

 

(In comparison, here is my own, DIY radio telescope!)

 

Edited December 2, 20205 yr by simon43

No worried 007 wont be needed it anymore  RIP Mr Bond

2 hours ago, simon43 said:

No need to worry about that - it just means that we now have to rely on China to give us these warnings from the world's biggest radio telescope.

 

 

(In comparison, here is my own, DIY radio telescope!)

 

If the chinese one fails they can use it as a giant wok for all you can eat shrimp!

Sad major bummer 

Watching a documentary on one of the worlds largest telescopes, they stated it could see a burning candle on the Moon. say what?

A series of off-topic, trolling posts have been removed.

 

10 hours ago, simon43 said:

No need to worry about that - it just means that we now have to rely on China to give us these warnings from the world's biggest radio telescope.

 

 

(In comparison, here is my own, DIY radio telescope!)

 

I thought it was a smaller version of the CMB detector, Ha!

7 hours ago, brianthainess said:

Watching a documentary on one of the worlds largest telescopes, they stated it could see a burning candle on the Moon. say what?

nonsense even  hubble  cant do  that, cant see the rovers or landers or  anything doesnt have the capability

So what has UCF been doing for the last two decades to allow this state disrepair to set in. People need to be held accountable and fired.

7 hours ago, brianthainess said:

Watching a documentary on one of the worlds largest telescopes, they stated it could see a burning candle on the Moon. say what?

who lit the candle??

5 hours ago, bodga said:

nonsense even  hubble  cant do  that, cant see the rovers or landers or  anything doesnt have the capability

The university of Chicago disagrees with you.

https://www.uchicago.edu/features/20110118_gmt/

Edited December 3, 20205 yr by Throatwobbler

Who's pocket did the maintenance budget money end up in ?

So they didn't see that coming then ????

17 hours ago, ChakaKhan said:

No worried 007 wont be needed it anymore  RIP Mr Bond

 

He'll be back after the new and woke 007 flops miserably.   

 

And fortunately(?) CGI is so advanced now that they don't even need exotic locations any more.

 

On 12/3/2020 at 4:48 PM, bodga said:

nonsense even  hubble  cant do  that, cant see the rovers or landers or  anything doesnt have the capability

 

On 12/3/2020 at 5:19 PM, RJRS1301 said:

who lit the candle??

 

On 12/3/2020 at 10:18 PM, Throatwobbler said:

The university of Chicago disagrees with you.

https://www.uchicago.edu/features/20110118_gmt/

Well i disagree with them. you all seem to have missed my point, How could a candle possibly BURN on the moon with no oxygen.

2 hours ago, brianthainess said:

 

 

Well i disagree with them. you all seem to have missed my point, How could a candle possibly BURN on the moon with no oxygen.

 

2 hours ago, brianthainess said:

 

 

Well i disagree with them. you all seem to have missed my point, How could a candle possibly BURN on the moon with no oxygen.

Precisely why asked my question