Arecibo telescope has collapsed

[bjdeming]

They were going to take it down anyway, but reportedly gravity did their work for them today.

Two questions out of curiosity:

1. Was this indirectly Hurricane Maria's fault?
2. Any thoughts on the impacts of its loss on space research and programs?

An old video:

 

[WesL]

That sucks. I know Homer Hickham who is on the National Space Council was trying to lobby the agency to support bringing in the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers to assess and possibly spearhead the emergency effort to save it. Will be interesting to see how the space community reacts.

 

[bjdeming]

Here's the most recent info from the NSF, lots of it, with links to more background. https://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=301737

 

[KoD]

Incredible footage of the collapse, they even had a drone recording the cables as they snapped.

 

[Juliett Bravo Kilo]

Incredible footage of the collapse, they even had a drone recording the cables as they snapped.

That footage is eerie and bittersweet to watch as it reminds me of the climactic scene in GoldenEye where they collapsed the Arecibo Telescope...now it's actually happened for real.

 

[bjdeming]

Here is someone's personal view: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-03552-2?WT.ec_id=NATURE-20201224

 

[TomaJo]

At the end of December, an executive order was signed to restore Arecibo which was destroyed in a total structural failure on December 1. Here are two sources that indicate that $ 8 million will be allocated for the work:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/science...to-Rico-commits-8-million-reconstruction.html

https://www.weatherboy.com/outgoing...tgoing Puerto,structural failure in December% 201.

On the other hand, experts estimate the cost of over 100 million for the construction of such a telescope at present.