The collapse of Arecibo’s radio telescope was a devastating blow to radio astronomy. On December 1, the hanging instrument platform crashed, destroying a large part of the receiver shell and the towers supporting the platform, and causing minor damage to some outbuildings. Now the National Science Foundation (NSF), the government agency responsible for running Arecibo, is starting to take the parts to figure out what’s next for the site, as they detailed in a brief report to Congress recently.
Several important lessons emerged from the report. The most important thing is that no one was injured during the collapse. This is in large part thanks to several technical evaluations following a preliminary cable collapse in November, which strongly suggested no one is going near the 305m long bowl with the risk of collapse imminent.
Video shows the collapse of the instrument platform at Arecibo.
Photo credit: NSF
The engineering team had proposed a “controlled shutdown” – a euphemism for blowing up the telescope’s components in such a way that engineers could minimize the risk to surrounding facilities. Unfortunately, they couldn’t carry out this plan until the platform collapsed on its own, which proves their theory about it being unstable. The report found that the damage only occurred in the restricted area and since no one was allowed into that zone, there was no human cost to the collapse.
A second interesting note in the report was about cleanups. Currently, the estimated cost was between $ 30 million and $ 50 million. The work will stretch over the next two years and focus on eliminating waste and limiting environmental pollution. Efforts have already begun, as shown by a picture NSF released as part of the report, which shows that some of the debris has been removed from the main shell.
The image of the destroyed 305-meter telescope with some clean-up work has started.
Photo credit: NSF
Details of the next steps were also provided in the report. It provided a breakdown of what was damaged and what was operating in the Arecibo facility, which was more than just the famous 305-meter bowl. The site still contains a lidar system that is operational but still needs to be repaired from Hurricane Maria that hit the island nearly 4 years ago. Other operational parts include a pair of 12-meter receivers, a passive optics system, and a visitor center, which the NSF intends to continue operating as soon as the site is classified as safe.
NSF plans, along with its subcontracted research facility, the University of Central Florida, which is actually responsible for the operation of the site, to maintain a presence there and possibly use the other, largely undamaged infrastructure. It is still unclear what science could take place at the facility, but the NSF reiterated its commitment to the work in Arecibo and to the Puerto Rico community that surrounds the facility. With a little luck, more science may be carried out at the site in the not too distant future.
Learn more:
NSF – NSF begins planning the decommissioning of the Arecibo Observatory’s 305-meter telescope for safety reasons
NSF – Report on the Arecibo Observatory
UT – Now you can watch a recent video of Arecibo Collapsing … if you dare
UT – Arecibo’s damage is so severe and dangerous that they will only completely scrap the observatory
Mission statement:
Image of the 305 meter telescope in Arecibo before the final collapse of the instrument platform.
Photo credit: University of Central Florida
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