Second cable fails at Arecibo, causing even more damage to the famous SETI antenna

Another cable fell on the reflective dish at the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico, in another frustrating setback for this beloved facility.

Arecibo Observatory’s main support cable failed and fell on the antenna below at 7:30 p.m. Puerto Rico time on Friday, November 6. reports UCF Today. The extent of the damage is not yet known, but the antenna was still damaged, as were some cables nearby. No one was injured, but a safety zone was set up around the facility as a precaution. With two support cables defective in three months, it is imperative that response teams now find a way to stabilize the structure.

The first one incident occurred on August 10, when a 3-inch-thick auxiliary cable fell on the main reflector plate of the observatory, creating a 10-foot-long gash. The reason for the failure has not yet been determined, but the auxiliary cable appears to have slipped out of its socket. This does not appear to be the case for the main cable, which simply broke, possibly due to the extra weight placed on the remaining cables, observatory officials said. Like UCF Today, officials were aware of the broken wires on the main cable and engineers were due to make emergency repairs this week.

Like the faulty auxiliary cable, the main cable connects to the main support tower. The incident last August also caused damage to the Gregorian dome and the platform used to access the dome. The Arecibo facility is managed by the University of Central Florida on behalf of the US National Science Foundation, under a cooperative agreement with the Universidad Ana G. Méndez and Yang Enterprises.

Here’s what Observatory Director Francisco Cordova told UCF today in response to this latest incident:

“It’s certainly not what we wanted to see, but the important thing is that no one gets hurt. We reflected on our assessment and prioritized safety when planning the repairs that were to begin on Tuesday. Now this. There is a lot of uncertainty until we can stabilize the structure. He has our full attention. We are assessing the situation with our experts and hope to have more to share soon. “

The response team will attempt to reduce the tension in the existing cables by installing steel reinforcement, which they would like to do as soon as possible. The team also hopes to accelerate the acquisition of two new support cables currently on order. These plans may evolve over the next few days as the situation is further assessed.

Arecibo’s progress has been slow since the August incident, as officials struggle to pinpoint the cause of the auxiliary cable failure. The failed socket, for example, was sent to NASA for forensic analysis. Arecibo officials previously applied to the National Science Foundation for funds to make temporary repairs, but the expected cost of the repairs is not yet known. The observatory, which was built in the 1960s, has a long history of tax uncertainty, in addition to suffering the damage caused by hurricanes and earthquake.

We’ve reached out to Arecibo to find out more about the recent damage and other details, and we’ll update this post if we have a response.

This is all very sad, because Arecibo hosts very valuable scientific work. In addition to assisting in extraterrestrial intelligence research (SETI), the antenna is used for radio astronomy and atmospheric and planetary science. Above all, the observatory is also on the lookout for potentially dangerous NEOs.