The Arecibo Observatory collapsed today
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A cable holding the 900 ton platform 400 feet above the dish broke back on August 6th. It's been closed since then as they determined how to fix it.
On November 6th another cable broke. Making the situation much more perilous.
Today the remaining cables couldn't hold the platform anymore and it finally broke free and fell into the dish.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/arecibo-observatory-radio-telescope-puerto-rico-collapses/
This was the world's largest radio telescope and has been used for countless scientific experiments and observations.
Unfortunately I don't see the US funding a repair/replacement and this probably means this radio telescope is done for permanently.
Edit: Adding a note that aremmes pointed out. After the second cable broke the NSF decided to close the observatory. So it was to be decommissioned and disassembled anyways, but this is a sad way to see it go.
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For England, James?
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The NSF had already decided that they'd decommission it. Given their lack of funding, which could've paid for preventative suspension cable replacements, they seemingly decided that a long time ago.
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If an observatory falls in the forest...
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It's fairly densely populated as far as forests go, so...
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thats a shame... but phased-array systems and dish-binning are, scientifically speaking, a better investment
It was an icon though, nothing else like it. -
@aremmes Yea, they decided that after the second cable broke in early November. Seems it wasn't a lack of preventative maintenance that the first cable failed though.
I've read multiple places that the early conclusions are that a manufacturing defect caused the first cable to break.
But, the second cable may have been prevented with more preventative maintenance as they seem to be indicating that it failed due to degradation over time and the extra load added after the first cable failed.
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@mastermario Very sad day...
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That's disappointing. Almost seems like the world is slowly falling into the post-apocalyptic state of no more research for grand endeavors, but "do what I can to stay alive, regardless of the long term costs." Granted, we are living in a pandemic, but still, would be nice to continue research.
Then again, I might just be pessimistic about it all. -
@misterbuttercup said in The Arecibo Observatory collapsed today:
That's disappointing. Almost seems like the world is slowly falling into the post-apocalyptic state of no more research for grand endeavors..
You're not wrong in the broad sense... at least in the USA for sure. It's also true that giant single-point dishes like Arecibo are terribly expensive, and modern digital processes allow phased-arrays of multiple smaller dishes to work as well or better in the long term, with lower upfront and maintenance costs.
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@mastermario RIP planet killer.
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@jawzx2 The one thing I don't think can be replaced though is that the Arecibo dish was also the world's largest radar, meaning it could send signals in addition to receiving them.
I don't know enough though to say whether that will be a huge loss to the scientific community.
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According to local news, besides the sinkhole over which it was built there's an underground river that runs under the dish, and the suspended platform fell directly into it. The platform also carried 46,000 lbs of lead ballast. That'll make cleanup a right proper chore.
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@aremmes off topic but will we be seeing a return of your avatar here on the hyphen??
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@mastermario said in The Arecibo Observatory collapsed today:
@jawzx2 The one thing I don't think can be replaced though is that the Arecibo dish was also the world's largest radar, meaning it could send signals in addition to receiving them.
I don't know enough though to say whether that will be a huge loss to the scientific community.
Phased arrays can do that too, though the computational needs of the process are MUCH higher and there is greater chance for error due to timing/aiming/compensation calculations. A single point dish does have advantages... Too bad our governments don't seem to think that particular type of research deserves enough funding to make more like it.
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As soon as Ha-Ha Guy returns from holiday.
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@jawzx2 said in The Arecibo Observatory collapsed today:
@mastermario said in The Arecibo Observatory collapsed today:
@jawzx2 The one thing I don't think can be replaced though is that the Arecibo dish was also the world's largest radar, meaning it could send signals in addition to receiving them.
I don't know enough though to say whether that will be a huge loss to the scientific community.
Phased arrays can do that too, though the computational needs of the process are MUCH higher and there is greater chance for error due to timing/aiming/compensation calculations. A single point dish does have advantages... Too bad our governments don't seem to think that particular type of research deserves enough funding to make more like it.
It should be noted also that limited steering capability, so it could only observe a point in the sky by radar for up to about two and a half hours per day. An array of steerable dishes can remain aimed at the same point for much longer, though obviously with the phase changes induced by the Earth's rotation.
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@jawzx2 said in The Arecibo Observatory collapsed today:
Too bad our governments don't seem to think that particular type of research deserves enough funding to make more like it.
They didn't value the research to begin with when they built this. The Arecibo Observatory only got the green light due to the military's interest in being able to detect ICBMs. Which is why it is a radar in the first place.
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@adabofoppo said in The Arecibo Observatory collapsed today:
For England, James?
My first thought too. Well done.
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@mastermario This makes me sad. But physics did give them lots of time to avert the disaster.
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Such a huge shame....so many important scientific discoveries....
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Crap now how will we discover aliens?
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That's a bummer. I know they planned to dismantle it but it's still sad to see it collapse. If nothing else, this does alleviate them trying to figure out how to get the platform down safely - after all, reports for the last couple weeks have said that it could fall at any time - and they were right.
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@fintail The old fashioned way, when they abduct you.
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Well, it was definitely a good decision not to go forward with trying to replace the first broken cable after the second one snapped, this certainly confirms that it was indeed far too dangerous to repair with two cables gone.
Wonder if that replacement cable had already been fabricated or not, and if so, if they can get their money back?
