Arecibo telescope, on the brink of collapse, will be dismantled

Re:Arecibo telescope, on the brink of collapse, will be dism... by xianhn on Thursday November 19, 2020 @12:32PM (#25151919)

Sad day. I worked in radio astronomy and stayed on site for a week a few years back. Amazing telescope, the scale of it has to be seen to be believed. They have had serious funding issues for some time now, so now that it needs repair, I figured they might retire it. Unfortunate for all the staff that work there, it employed quite a few people. RIP Arecibo.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Arecibo telescope, on the brink of collapse, will be dism... by VerDeTerre on Thursday November 19, 2020 @01:35PM (#25152727)

I would not have guessed the scale. The article says the instrument platform weighs 900 tons, which is amazing to imagine. At first, I wondered if they could use a helicopter to bring it down safely, but it's like two or three 747s on a tight rope.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Arecibo telescope, on the brink of collapse, will be dism... by esoterae on Thursday November 19, 2020 @02:18PM (#25153234)

How about giant airbag and mating structures underneath the gondola, shaped-charge the cables, and then just let the air out to bring it down to the ground.

Just inflating something like that would take some weight off the cables and allow a more controlled and safer process.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Arecibo telescope, on the brink of collapse, will be dism... by Aeolun on Thursday November 19, 2020 @03:51PM (#25154189)

The platform itself looks bigger than the instruments, so maybe it’s mostly platform?

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Arecibo telescope, on the brink of collapse, will be dism... by Apofis on Thursday November 19, 2020 @07:16PM (#25156010)

This sucks. So instead of attempting to fix it, they're staying on the safe side and just demolishing it instead? Full cable replacement is out of the question due to safety? That doesn't make any sense either. This is clearly a budget issue that seems to have been made by bureaucrats.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Arecibo telescope, on the brink of collapse, will be dism... by dylan604 on Thursday November 19, 2020 @01:42PM (#25152834)

RIP El Radar

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Arecibo telescope, on the brink of collapse, will be dism... by unreal37 on Thursday November 19, 2020 @01:50PM (#25152933)

The Arecibo Observatory is not closing. They're only dismantling that structure. They can continue to conduct science there.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Arecibo telescope, on the brink of collapse, will be dism... by fennecfoxen on Thursday November 19, 2020 @03:17PM (#25153857)

The structure holds the instruments through which they conduct science.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Arecibo telescope, on the brink of collapse, will be dism... by dougmany on Thursday November 19, 2020 @04:29PM (#25154607)

>Ralph Gaume, director of NSF’s astronomy division, said at the briefing the agency wants to preserve other instruments at the site, as well as the visitor and outreach center.

It sounds like the big fancy telescope will stop conducting science but these huge projects tend to attract ancillary projects.

[ Parent | on HN ]