Recent damage to Arecibo telescope could keep it offline for months

According to Space News, the cable weighed about 30 kilograms (about 66 pounds) per meter and more than 200 meters of cable fell on the antenna. “It’s several tons of material crashing onto the flat,” Johnson said.

The Arecibo Observatory is still assessing the damage and the National Science Foundation (NSF) will lead the repair work. As Gizmodo reports, only about 250 primary reflector panels were damaged (the dish is equipped with 40,000 panels). But repairs can be more complicated if the platform used to access certain parts of the telescope is unsafe.

While the telescope is down, some research, such as NASA’s project to study near-Earth asteroids, is pending. This is another setback for Arecibo, the second largest radio telescope in the world, which faced financial difficulties and was damaged during Hurricane Maria. It is currently managed by the University of Central Florida.