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On December 1, the Arecibo telescope, located in Arecibo, Puerto Rico, suddenly collapsed. Following two cable breaks supporting the receiver platform in the previous months, the owner of the US National Science Foundation (NSF) has decided to decommission the second largest telescope in the world for safety reasons. Before controlled demolition could be conducted, the remaining cables failed, causing catastrophic structural failure in the telescope.
The video shared by NSF is twofold: a camera is filming from the control room, which overlooks the entire site. The second part is a drone that monitors the cables that support the receiver platform. Suddenly the remaining cables fail, causing the 900-ton platform to collapse and take everything with it.
Since its completion in November 1963, the telescope had been used for radar astronomy and radio astronomy, and had been part of the Search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) program. It has also been used by NASA for detecting objects close to the Earth.
Since about 2006, NSF’s financial support for the telescope had declined as the Foundation directed funds to newer instruments, although academics had petitioned the NSF and Congress to continue supporting the telescope.
Numerous hurricanes, including Hurricane Maria, had damaged parts of the telescope, putting a strain on the tight budget. (Source wikipedia: Arecibo Observatory)
The Arecibo telescope was used in GoldenEye, a James Bond film.
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