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Another cable fell on the reflective dish of the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico, another frustrating setback for this beloved facility.
The Arecibo Observatory’s main support cable failed and fell on the dish below at 7:30 PM Puerto Rico time on Friday, November 6, UFC Today reports. The extent of the damage is not yet known, but the antenna was further damaged, as were some nearby cables. No one was injured, but as a precaution a safety zone was set up around the facility. With two support cables failing in three months, it is imperative that response teams now find a way to stabilize the facility.
Photo file showing the observatory as it looked in Spring 2019 (Photo: UCF Today)
The first incident occurred on August 10, when a 3-inch-thick auxiliary cable fell on the observatory’s main dish, creating a 3.05m-long gash. The reason for the failure has yet to be determined, but the auxiliary cable appears to have slipped out of its socket. This does not appear to be the case with the main cable, which simply snapped, possibly due to the extra weight imposed on the remaining cables, according to observatory officials. As UFC Today reports, officials were aware of broken wires on the main cable and engineers were due to carry out emergency repairs this week.
Like the broken auxiliary cable, the main cable connects to the main support tower. The incident last August also resulted in damage to the Gregorian dome and the platform used to access the dome. The Arecibo facility is managed by the University of Central Florida on behalf of the US National Science Foundation, under a cooperation agreement with the Universidad Ana G. Méndez and Yang Enterprises.
Here’s what Observatory Director Francisco Cordova told UFC today in response to this latest incident:
“It’s certainly not what we wanted to see, but the important thing is that nobody got hurt. We were careful in our assessment and prioritized safety in planning the repairs that were due to start on Tuesday. Now this. There is a lot of uncertainty until we are able to stabilize the structure. He has our full attention. We are evaluating the situation with our experts and hope to have more content to share soon. “
The response team will try to reduce tension in existing cables by installing steel reinforcements, which they would like to do as soon as possible. The team also hopes to accelerate the procurement of two new support cables currently on order. These plans could evolve over the next few days as the situation is evaluated further.
Progress at Arecibo has been slow since the August incident as officials struggle to pinpoint the cause of the auxiliary cable failure. The failed socket, for example, was sent to NASA for forensic analysis. Arecibo officials had previously asked the National Science Foundation for the necessary funds to make temporary repairs, but the expected cost of the repairs is not yet known. The observatory, which was built in the 1960s, has a long history of fiscal uncertainty, as well as suffering damage from hurricanes and earthquakes.
We reached out to Arecibo to find out more about the recent damage and other details, and will update this post if there is any response.
This is all very sad, as Arecibo is home to very valuable scientific work. In addition to contributing to the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI), the dish is used for radio astronomy and atmospheric and planetary science. Importantly, the observatory is also looking for potentially dangerous near-Earth objects.
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