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Video of the collapse of the famous Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico has surfaced.
The 305-meter telescope was deactivated in November after an engineering evaluation concluded that damage to the structure could not be repaired without risk to construction workers.
It collapsed this week before it could be dismantled, resulting in the 900-ton receiver platform and Gregorian dome – the structure that sat above the parabola – fell more than 400 feet to the telescope below.
The areas of the observatory that had been affected by the uncontrolled collapse had already been evacuated.
Witnesses to the accident described a major accident.
“It sounded like a rumble. I knew exactly what it was, “Jonathan Friedman, a worker at the facility, told The Associated Press.
“I was screaming. Personally I was out of control … I have no words to express it. It is a very deep and terrible feeling. “
The observatory was until recently the largest radio telescope in the world, serving as a world-class astronomy and research center for 57 years.
He was instrumental in the discovery of gravitational waves, as well as asteroids and other celestial objects in the galaxy.
The Arecibo Observatory before the collapse
(H. Schweiker / WIYN and NOAO / AURA / NSF.)
It is also famous for its depiction in fictional works over the decades, most notably in the James Bond film Golden eye.
It is not yet clear what will happen to the site, with scientists working there originally lobbying for it to be repaired when it was first damaged.
Building a new observatory of similar size would cost $ 350 million.
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