Astronomers confirmed, that after the collapse of the famous radio telescope at the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico two years ago on December 01, 2020, when the main cable was cut, which led to the fall of a dome weighing 453,59237 kilograms on the antenna below it, and one of the three towers of a skyscraper height that was The dome supports approximately halfway.
Since that time, many scientists have hoped that the US National Science Foundation (NSF), which runs it, will eventually build a new telescope to replace it. Instead, the foundation has announced that it will establish a STEM education center on the site.
The astronomers added that the agency announced its plans in a call for proposals on October 13, 2022 asking for ideas to establish and run an educational center in Arecispo at a cost of between $1 million and $3 million annually over five years, starting in 2023.
The astronomers confirmed that, after more than half a century of supporting outstanding scientific work and providing a scenic backdrop to the science fiction movie Contact, GoldenEye and other Hollywood films, the famous Arecibo Radio Telescope in Puerto Rico was announced to be shut down after suffering severe damage represented by broken cables that cannot be repaired. Easily repaired.
The US National Science Foundation, which owns the observatory, announced on November 19, 2020 that it would begin the process of planning to “shut down” the 305-meter radio telescope after it had suffered catastrophic problems with the cables supporting the 900-ton central receiver platform over the months. past several.
This decision aims to preserve the lives and safety of people and prevent the loss of the entire Arecibo Observatory, including the Visitor Education Center, in the event of an unexpected and uncontrolled collapse. Of course, this decision is not an easy decision, but the safety of the people is a priority.
The astronomers pointed out that it should be clarified that although the telescope has been shut down, the Arecibo Observatory will not shut down. Instead, the plan is to retain as much of the surrounding infrastructure as possible in the hope that it will still be able to fulfill various research and educational purposes.
They emphasized that the decision to shut down the Arecibo Observatory came after multiple evaluations by independent engineering firms found that the telescope’s structure was at risk of catastrophic destruction, that its cables may no longer be able to carry the loads they were designed to support, and that any repair attempts could put workers at potential life-threatening danger. Even if the repairs prove successful, engineers have found that the structure is likely to be a long-term stability problem, and for many astronomy and planetary science studies, there is simply no other facility available to fill the research void that the decommissioning of the Arecibo Radio Observatory will leave behind.
Without a doubt, the past few years have not been good for the Arecibo Observatory. In September 2017, it was hit by Hurricane Maria, and the observatory lost one of its floors, and the fall of the feed line damaged dozens of its more than 38,000 aluminum panels, but those devastating blows pales In contrast to the havoc caused by a cable outage on August 10, followed by damage to the main cable on November 6, each of the remaining cables in the chassis now supports more weight than before, raising the possibility of another cable failure, which is likely to lead The entire structure collapsed, and additional signs of significant corrosion were also observed on two of the remaining cables, posing severe safety risks for workers.
Built in 1963, the Arecibo Observatory was the world’s largest single-dish radio telescope until it closed earlier this year. Scientists have regularly used it to accomplish historical work, such as creating detailed radar maps of asteroids, comets and planets, studying the physics of pulsars, and even sending detailed messages into intergalactic space as part of the search for extraterrestrial intelligent life (the SETI project). A scientist from the Arecibo Observatory to continue their research.
In amazing detail… the world’s largest camera revealed | photo