[ad_1]
The end of an era came unexpectedly this week, when Puerto Rico’s iconic Arecibo Telescope collapsed on December 1, exactly one month after its 57th birthday. And as it happens, the whole thing was captured in spectacular drone footage that you can watch here right now.
Drone footage of the Arecibo collapse. I can’t believe the moment they had a drone in the air when it happened. What a strange luck. Source: @NSF pic.twitter.com/Kpfw47moAC
– TJ Cooney 🚀🎄 (@TJ_Cooney) December 3, 2020
The telescope, which went into operation in 1963 and was the largest spherical reflector plate in the world until 2016, has been a crucial tool in the advancement of astronomy for decades. Although primarily used for atmospheric science research and for both radio and radar astronomy, it was perhaps best known as a key NASA tool for monitoring near-Earth asteroids and as part of the search for extraterrestrial intelligence.
Among the discoveries made using the telescope: Mercury’s 59-day rotation period; the first concrete evidence supporting the existence of neutron stars; the Nobel Prize for the discovery of the first binary pulsar; the first observation of a comet by radar; and the first exoplanets identified.
Read also: Trump’s election fraud witness says we need voter ID because “all Chinese look alike” (video)
He was also well known for appearances in several pop culture milestones, most famously in the James Bond film “GoldenEye” (1995), where he was used in the film’s climax as the villain’s secret base. He also appeared in the films “Species” (1996) and “Contact” (1997), and in an episode of “The X Files”, as well as several video games and novels.
Unfortunately, in the 2010s it was hit by a series of severe tropical storms and hurricanes caused by climate change, culminating in the terrible damage inflicted by Hurricane Maria in 2017. Unfortunately the 2016 elections resulted in a government unwilling to finance the repairs. Although new sources of funding were pooled in late 2018, it was determined in late November 2020 that there was no way to safely repair the telescope, and the National Science Foundation announced it would be decommissioned.
The decommissioning was supposed to proceed after NSF determined the safest method possible, but physics had other plans. So it’s that on December 4th, the whole thing collapsed with almost no warning.
Read also: Rudy Giuliani says the problem with Republicans is “we’re too kind” (video)
But, while the end of 60 years of scientific progress is grim, we’re glad that a historically significant event like that was at least captured on video. You can see more from the collapse here, and see how the telescope was used in “GoldenEye” below.
[ad_2]
Source link
