The iconic radio telescope at the Arecibo Observatory will be demolished.
After the fall of two load-bearing cables at the Arecibo observatory, the infrastructure threatened to collapse. The telescope will therefore be decommissioned.
Located in northern Puerto Rico, the single-reflector radio telescope at the Arecibo Observatory is the second largest in the world.
This is a turning point for the Arecibo Observatory, located on the north coast of Puerto Rico, and its iconic 305-meter diameter radio telescope. The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) announced yesterday that it is decommissioning the huge 57-year-old telescope and plans to demolish the instrument, which is on the verge of collapse.
“The observatory made me want to touch the stars when I was a child. It’s heartbreaking news. I see how the observatory continues to inspire my island,” writes Edgard Rivera-Valentín of the Lunar and Planetary Institute in a Twitter message to National Geographic.
The decision comes after the observatory’s degradation in recent months as engineers tried to stabilize the telescope after two of the cables that supported the 900-ton platform broke. But concern grew when other cables showing signs of brittleness and degradation were discovered: the platform was in danger of falling about 140 meters, piercing the reflector, and ending up in the jungle. The NSF decided to stop repairs and decommission the observatory.
In a November 19 statement, NSF said, “The telescope is in danger of collapsing. Any attempt to repair the telescope could potentially expose workers to a life-threatening situation.
Built in the early 1960s, the Arecibo telescope is a source of inspiration and pride for the Puerto Rican people. It has provided many residents with essential resources and assistance in emergency situations, such as during Hurricane Maria in 2017. He has also made a mark on science: he was the one who made it possible to observe the first confirmed planets outside the solar system and who detected the gravitational waves emitted by swirling dead stars called pulsars (this discovery was awarded a Nobel Prize in Physics in 1993). The telescope is also an extremely powerful planetary radar, which is fundamental for the study of asteroids crossing the Earth’s orbit.
“Think of what the Golden Gate Bridge represents for San Francisco or the Statue of Liberty for New Yorkers. It is the same, or even more, for Arecibo and Puerto Rico, because it is much more than an icon,” writes Edgard Rivera Valentín. “To us, it represents moving forward, it is a symbol that we can accomplish great things and pride in serving the entire planet from our island.
The last decade has not been an easy one for the Arecibo Observatory. In 2017, Hurricane Maria destroyed large portions of the island’s infrastructure and damaged the telescope. More recently, it was shaken by a swarm of earthquakes, an event that may have played a significant role in the loss of its structural integrity, according to Michael Nolan, former director of the observatory, who now teaches at the University of Arizona.
NSF had been reluctant to continue funding the observatory for some years, based on several studies that called for its decommissioning. After reviewing recommendations from three engineering firms, NSF finally made the decision yesterday to decommission the telescope. One of the reports stated that there was a high probability of failure if another cable were to break. The engineering firm Thornton Tomasetti, which visited the site, recommended “the controlled demolition of the structure as soon as possible.
“Our team has worked tirelessly with the NSF in the hope of finding solutions to stabilize the telescope at minimal risk,” said Alexander Cartwright, president of the University of Central Florida, which manages the telescope, in a statement. “We wanted to avoid this decision and are saddened by the decommissioning of such an important scientific resource, but safety is our priority,” he continued.
Another report proposed several solutions to stabilize the structure, but NSF has no plans to implement them, much to Nolan’s disappointment.
