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Due to previous damage, plans had already been made to dismantle the telescope at the Arecibo observatory: on Tuesday, the 900-ton instrument’s platform fell to the bowl below, according to the US National Science Foundation (NSF). According to the first results, the highest parts of all three support towers have broken off. In addition to the bowl, the observatory’s education center was also severely damaged by the fall of steel cables.
“We are sad about this situation, but thankful that no one was hurt,” said NSF director Sethuraman Panchanathan. Even if the telescope is lost, the remaining parts of the system must now be put back into operation.
Torn steel cable
It wasn’t until November 19 that the NSF announced that, according to experts, there was a risk of catastrophic failure of the telescope structure. Its cables may no longer be able to carry the loads intended for them. Repairs are not possible safely; therefore preparations would be made to disassemble the telescope.
In August, an approximately three-inch-thick steel cable supporting a metal platform broke for unknown reasons. As he fell, he broke the telescope’s reflector bowl about 30 meters long and damaged the dome and a platform. Also, there was damage to the observatory caused by Hurricane Maria 2017. The telescope should be repaired. Then, on November 6, a main cable snapped, according to NSF.
Known from the James Bond movie
Until 2016, when an even larger one went into operation in China, the radio telescope in the American suburb of Puerto Rico was the largest in the world with a diameter of 305 meters. It was also a popular tourist attraction, especially after being used as a backdrop in the 1995 James Bond film “GoldenEye”.
The telescope was commissioned in 1963 and was ultimately still one of the most sensitive in the world. In 1974, US astronomers Russell Hulse and Joseph Taylor discovered with him the double pulsar PSR 1913 + 16 – two neutron stars orbiting each other – and indirectly observed gravitational waves with it. Radio telescopes collect radio waves from space which are converted into images. (SDA / bra)
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