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The US National Science Foundation (NSF) has confirmed that Puerto Rico’s iconic 1,000-foot telescope at Arecibo Observatory will be shut down following a series of major structural failures, Gizmodo reports.
The plate itself is responsible for a number of fascinating discoveries during its 57-year operational history, including the first radar image of an asteroid and the first discovery of exoplanets, although it is particularly recognizable for its famous cameo in the final act of the 1995 GoldenEye. The dish caused the disappearance of Sean Bean’s Alec Trevelyan, who inexplicably survived a 400-foot drop into the dish itself only to die when the suspended receiver fell on him (and … exploded) .
The Puerto Rican facility is just one of Bean’s many on-screen resting places, which also include Maryland, Middle-earth, and County Kerry in Ireland, where he was pushed off a cliff … by a few cows.
The dish problems started in August when an auxiliary cable became loose and crashed into the dish below. At the time, a plan was devised to replace the structure’s cables but, in November, a main cable broke. This triggered a reassessment of the whole situation and it was decided that the condition of the plate is too poor for workers to safely retrieve and repair.
The NSF stressed that while the dish will be demolished, the Arecibo Observatory will not close.
Luke is Games Editor at IGN’s Sydney office. You can find it on Twitter sporadically @MrLukeReilly.
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