[ad_1]
Risk of collapse
The massive Alien Hunting Radio Telescope at Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico is at risk of collapse after several support cables failed and long gashes in the structure, National Geographic reports.
An auxiliary cable slipped from its socket in August, leaving a 100-foot gash in the reflective panels of the 1,000-foot-wide radio telescope antenna.
While scientists have said The New York Times the event was “just another bump in the road” at the time, a second main support cable – which was connected to the same support tower as the auxiliary cable – failed on November 8, causing even more damage to the reflector antenna.
The cause of the accidents remains uncertain. The Arecibo Observatory was built in the 1960s and has been used for decades to research extraterrestrial civilizations. Experts fear cables will corrode more as they age.
Reduce context
The radio telescope, one of the largest satellite dish radio telescopes in the world, is now in a terrible state – and at risk of collapsing completely.
“For me, it’s probably fifty-fifty,” said former director of the University of Arizona Observatory Michael Nolan. National Geographic. “They are doing what can be done. I’m still worried they can’t do enough. “
“I was not so worried when the first cable failed because I was convinced it would take a few months to repair it,” Abel Méndez, an astronomer who frequently used the Arecibo, told magazine. “Now I am worried.”
Others fear that more cables will fail, triggering a chain reaction.
“We’ll probably know pretty soon if they can find a bandage, relieve some of the tension, eliminate the problem immediately so we can fix the big problem,” Nolan said. National Geographic.
READ MORE: Puerto Rico’s iconic radio telescope at risk of collapse [National Geographic]
Find out more about the observatory: More damage reported to SETI alien hunting facility
[ad_2]
Source link