VIDEO How the famous Puerto Rican radio telescope used by astronomers all over the world crashed. The moment was recorded with several cameras

The National Science Foundation of the United States has released a video of the controlled crash of the Arecibo radio telescope on the American island of Puerto Rico.

It was used by astronomers all over the world and allowed the discovery of the first planets orbiting a star other than the sun.

The National Science Foundation of the United States announced on November 20 that it will close the large telescope of the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico, ending a 57-year period of astronomical discoveries after the structure was damaged. the second incident in recent months.

Operations at the observatory, one of the largest in the world, were halted in August when one of the support cables detached from the joint, collapsing and causing a 30-meter-long crack in the reflective disc with a diameter of 300 meters.

Another cable broke earlier this month, causing a new crack in the disc and damaging nearby cables, with engineers working to come up with a plan to preserve the damaged structure.

“NSF has concluded that this recent damage to the 305-meter telescope cannot be resolved without risking the life and safety of workers and employees,” said Sean Jones, deputy director of the Directorate of Mathematics and Physics. the NSF. The controlled collapse of the radio telescope occurred on Tuesday 1 December.

The observer’s massive reflector panel and 900-ton structure that hangs 137 meters above it in the rainforest of Arecibo, Puerto Rico, has been used by scientists and astronomers in various parts of the world for decades. analyze distant planets, discover potentially dangerous asteroids and look for signs of extraterrestrial life.

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