Watch crazy drone footage of Arecibo observatory collapse (video)

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The end of an era came unexpectedly this week when the iconic Arecibo telescope in Puerto Rico collapsed on December 1 exactly one month after its 57th birthday. And as it turns out, the whole thing was captured in spectacular drone footage that you can watch right here right now.

The telescope, which became operational in 1963 and until 2016 was the largest spherical reflector dish in the world, has for decades been a crucial tool in the advancement of astronomy. Although primarily used for research in atmospheric science and in radio and radar astronomy, it was perhaps best known as a key NASA tool for near-Earth asteroid monitoring and research. of extraterrestrial intelligence.

Among the discoveries made using the telescope: Mercury’s 59-day rotation period; the first solid evidence supporting the existence of neutron stars; the Nobel Prize-winning discovery of the first binary pulsar; the first observation of a comet using radar; and the first extrasolar planets identified.

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He was also well known for his appearances in several pop culture milestones, most notably the James Bond film “GoldenEye” (1995), where he was used in the film’s climax as the villain’s secret base. He has also appeared in the films “Species” (1996) and “Contact” (1997), and an episode of “The X Files”, as well as multiple video games and novels.

Sadly, during the 2010s it was battered by a series of severe tropical storms and hurricanes linked to climate change, which resulted in terrible damage inflicted by Hurricane Maria in 2017. Unfortunately, the 2016 elections led a government that does not want to finance repairs. Although new sources of funding were gathered in late 2018, late November 2020, it was determined that there was no way to safely repair the telescope and the National Science Foundation announced that it would be taken out of service.

Decommissioning was supposed to continue after NSF determined the safest possible method, but physics had other plans. So on December 4, the whole thing rose up and collapsed almost without warning.

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But, as sad as the end of 60 years of scientific progress is, we’re glad that a historically significant event like this was at least captured on video. You can see more of the collapse here, and see how the telescope was used in “GoldenEye” below.



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