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Risk of collapse
The massive alien hunting radio telescope at the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico is at risk of collapse after several support cables have failed and left long cuts in the structure. National Geographic relationships.
An auxiliary cable slipped from its socket in August, leaving a 30-meter gash in the reflective panels of the 1,000-foot-wide radio telescope dish.
As the scientists said The New York Times the event was “just another obstacle in the way” at the time, a second main support cable – which was connected to the same support tower as the auxiliary cable – failed on November 8, causing even more damage to the reflector .
The cause of the arrests is unclear. The Arecibo Observatory was built in the 1960s and has been used for decades to search for extraterrestrial civilizations. Experts fear that cables can further corrode as they age.
Collapse of the context
The radio telescope, among the largest single plate radio telescopes in the world, is now in a sorry state and at risk of total collapse.
“For me, it’s probably fifty-fifty,” said former observatory director Michael Nolan of the University of Arizona National Geographic. “They are doing what they can do. I’m still very worried that they can’t do enough. “
“I wasn’t so worried when the first cable failed because I was confident it would take a few months to repair,” Abel Méndez, an astronomer who has made frequent use of Arecibo, told the magazine. “Now I’m worried.”
Others are concerned that other cables may fail, setting off a chain reaction.
“We’ll probably know soon enough if they can invent a patch, take some tension off, take away the immediate problem so we can fix the big problem,” Nolan said. National Geographic.
READ MORE: Puerto Rico’s iconic radio telescope is at risk of collapse [National Geographic]
More on the observatory: Additional damage reported at the alien hunting SETI facility
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