Arecibo Observatory

Telescope Used to Look for Alien Life Has Completely Collapsed

December 14, 2020
ExoNews Editor

December 1, 2020 (fox2now.com)

• Last month, the US National Science Foundation (NSF) announced that the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico would be permanently closed. An auxiliary cable snapped in August causing a 100-foot gash on the 1,000-foot-wide dish (pictured above), damaging the receiver platform that hung above it. Then a main cable broke in mid-November.

• The huge radio telescope that played a key role in astronomical discoveries for more than half a century (and was used by SETI – the ‘Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence’ as seen in the 1997 movie “Contact”) completely collapsed on December 1st. The telescope’s 900-ton receiver platform fell onto the reflector dish more than 400 feet below. (see 1:38 minute video below) It had endured hurricanes, tropical humidity and a recent string of earthquakes in its 57 years of operation.

• “It sounded like a rumble. I knew exactly what it was,” said Jonathan Friedman, who worked for 26 years as a senior research associate at the observatory. “I was screaming. Personally, I was out of control…. I don’t have words to express it. It’s a very deep, terrible feeling.” When Friedman reached the dish, a cloud of dust hung in the air where the structure once stood, dashing hopes held by some scientists that the telescope could somehow be repaired.

• Scientists worldwide had petitioned US officials to reverse the NSF’s decision to close the observatory. The NSF said at the time that it intended to eventually reopen the visitor center and restore operations at the observatory’s remaining assets, including its two LIDAR facilities used for upper atmospheric and ionospheric research, analyzing cloud cover and precipitation data.

• “I am one of those students who visited it when young and got inspired,” said Abel Méndez, a physics and astrobiology professor at the University of Puerto Rico at Arecibo. “The world without the observatory loses, but Puerto Rico loses even more.” Méndez last used the telescope on August 6th, just days before a socket holding the auxiliary cable snapped in what experts believe could be a manufacturing error.

• About 250 scientists worldwide had been using the observatory when it closed in August, including Méndez, who was studying stars to detect habitable planets. The NSF, which owns the observatory (managed by the University of Central Florida), said crews who evaluated the structure after the first incident determined that the remaining cables could handle the additional weight. But on November 6th, another cable broke.

MYSTERY WIRE (SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico) — A huge, already damaged radio telescope in Puerto Rico that has played a key role in astronomical discoveries for more than half a century completely collapsed on Tuesday.

The telescope’s 900-ton receiver platform fell onto the reflector dish more than 400 feet below.

The U.S. National Science Foundation had earlier announced that the Arecibo Observatory would be closed.

An auxiliary cable snapped in August, causing a 100-foot gash on the 1,000-foot-wide (305-meter-wide) dish and damaged the receiver platform that hung above it. Then a main cable broke in early November.

The collapse stunned many scientists who had relied on what was until recently the largest radio telescope in the world.

“It sounded like a rumble. I knew exactly what it was,” said Jonathan Friedman, who worked for 26 years as a senior research associate at the observatory and still lives near it. “I was screaming. Personally, I was out of control…. I don’t have words to express it. It’s a very deep, terrible feeling.”

Friedman ran up a small hill near his home and confirmed his suspicions: A cloud of dust hung in the air where the structure once stood, demolishing hopes held by some scientists that the telescope could somehow be repaired.

“It’s a huge loss,” said Carmen Pantoja, an astronomer and professor at the University of Puerto Rico who used the telescope for her doctorate. “It was a chapter of my life.”

1:38 minute video of the Aricibo collapse on December 1st (‘ABC News’ YouTube)

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Famed Puerto Rico Telescope to Close

November 30, 2020
ExoNews Editor

Article by the Associated Press November 20, 2020 (nypost.com)

• On November 19th, the National Science Foundation (NSF) announced that it will close the renowned Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico (pictured above), in a blow to astronomers worldwide who depend on it to search for planets, asteroids and extraterrestrial life. The independent, federally funded agency said it’s too dangerous to keep operating the single dish radio telescope after the significant damage it sustained in August when an auxiliary cable broke and tore a 100-foot hole in the reflector dish and damaged the dome above it. Then on November 6th, one of the telescope’s main steel cables snapped, leading officials to warn that the entire structure could collapse.

• Ralph Gaume, director of NSF’s Division of Astronomical Sciences, said, “The telescope is currently at serious risk of unexpected, uncontrolled collapse. Even attempts at stabilization or testing the cables could result in accelerating the catastrophic failure.” “This decision is not an easy one for NSF to make, but the safety of people is our number one priority,” said Sean Jones, the agency’s assistant director for the Mathematical and Physical Sciences Directorate. “We understand how much Arecibo means to this community and to Puerto Rico.” “[But] we have found no path forward to allow us to do so safely.”

• The 1,000-foot-wide Arecibo Observatory telescope was built in the 1960s with money from the Defense Department amid a push to develop anti-ballistic missile defenses. It has endured hurricanes, humidity, and a string of strong earthquakes. The world’s largest radio telescope (until the Chinas’ FAST telescope went operational in 2016), it was featured in the Jodie Foster film “Contact” and the James Bond movie “GoldenEye.” In recent years, the NSF-owned facility has been managed by the University of Central Florida.

• Officials suspect a manufacturing error is to blame for the auxiliary cable that snapped after a socket failed. But they were surprised when a main cable broke about three months later given that it was supporting only about 60 percent of its capacity. “It was identified as an issue that needed to be addressed, but it wasn’t seen as an immediate threat,” said Ashley Zauderer, program officer for Arecibo Observatory at NSF.

• Scientists worldwide have used the telescope to track asteroids on a path to Earth, and to conduct research into habitable planets that led to a Nobel Prize. Pennsylvania State University astronomer and professor Alex Wolszczan, who worked at the observatory in the ’80s and early ’90s, called this a “sadly emotional moment”.

• More than 250 scientists have used the telescope, but it is also considered one of Puerto Rico’s main tourist attractions, drawing some 90,000 visitors a year. The observatory has long served as a training ground for hundreds of graduate students. Universities Space Research Association scientist at the Lunar and Planetary Institute in Texas, Edgard Rivera-Valentín described the Arecibo telescope as “beyond an icon.” Professor Wolszczan noted that many scientists are still working on projects based on observations and data taken from the observatory. “The process of saying goodbye to Arecibo will certainly take some years.”

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — The National Science Foundation announced Thursday that it will close the huge telescope at the renowned Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico in a blow to scientists worldwide who depend on it to search for planets, asteroids and extraterrestrial life.

The independent, federally funded agency said it’s too dangerous to keep operating the single dish radio telescope — one of the world’s largest — given the significant damage it recently sustained. An auxiliary cable broke in August and tore a 100-foot hole in the reflector dish and damaged the dome above it. Then on Nov. 6, one of the telescope’s main steel cables snapped, leading officials to warn that the entire structure could collapse.
NSF officials noted that even if crews were to repair all the damage, engineers found that

the structure would still be unstable in the long term.

“This decision is not an easy one for NSF to make, but the safety of people is our number one priority,” said Sean Jones, the agency’s assistant director for the Mathematical and Physical Sciences Directorate. “We understand how much Arecibo means to this community and to Puerto Rico.”

He said the goal was to preserve the telescope without placing people at risk, but, “we have found no path forward to allow us to do so safely.”

The telescope was built in the 1960s with money from the Defense Department amid a push to develop anti-ballistic missile defenses. In its 57 years of operation, it endured hurricanes, endless humidity and a recent string of strong earthquakes.

The telescope boasts a 1,000-foot-wide (305-meter-wide) dish featured in the Jodie Foster film “Contact” and the James Bond movie “GoldenEye.” Scientists worldwide have used the dish along with the 900-ton platform hanging 450 feet above it to track asteroids on a path to Earth, conduct research that led to a Nobel Prize and determine if a planet is potentially habitable.

In recent years, the NSF-owned facility has been managed by the University of Central Florida.

Alex Wolszczan, a Polish-born astronomer and professor at Pennsylvania State University who helped discover the first extrasolar and pulsar planets, told The Associated Press that while the news wasn’t surprising, it was disappointing. He worked at the telescope in the 1980s and early 1990s.

“I was hoping against hope that they would come up with some kind of solution to keep it open,” he said. “For a person who has had a lot of his scientific life associated with that telescope, this is a rather interesting and sadly emotional moment.”

1:38 minute video of the Arecibo Telescope collapse (‘ABC News’ YouTube)

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More Damage at Arecibo Alien-Hunting Facility

November 21, 2020
ExoNews Editor

Article by Vistor Tangermann November 9, 2020 (futurism.com)

• A second cable has fallen, crushing the intricate reflector dish at the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico. A first auxiliary cable failed on August 10th, crushing a portion of the dish and resulting in a significant setback for the observatory. The massive dish was mainly used by SETI to hunt for extraterrestrial life. But research had to be put on pause for several months following the August event.

• Now, a main cable connected to the same support tower as the auxiliary cable failed this week, causing additional damage to both the dish and other nearby cables, according to a statement by the University of Central Florida, which co-manages the facility.

• Officials suspect the break may have been caused by the extra load the cables had to carry since the first cable failure. “This is certainly not what we wanted to see, but the important thing is that no one got hurt,” said observatory director Francisco Cordova. “We have been thoughtful in our evaluation and prioritized safety in planning for repairs that were supposed to begin Tuesday. Now this.”

• Engineers are hoping to support the structure with steel reinforcements to alleviate some of the additional load. Two replacement cables are already on their way to the observatory. The aging Arecibo radio telescope dates back to the early 1960s and has been in operation for over half a century. The reflector dish alone is 1,000 feet in diameter and is composed of 38,778 perforated aluminum panels.

More bad news for the alien-hunting Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico. A second cable has fallen, crushing the intricate reflector dish below.

A first auxiliary cable failed over the massive dish on August 10, crushing a portion of the dish and representing a significant setback for the observatory.

The dish was mainly used to hunt for extraterrestrial life — but research had to be put on pause for several months following the event.

Compounding the problem, a main cable — which was connected to the same support tower as the auxiliary cable — failed this week, causing additional damage to both the dish and other nearby cables, according to a statement by the University of Central Florida, which co-manages the facility.

Luckily, nobody was hurt.

Extra Load

The cause of the break has yet to be identified. Officials suspect it may have been caused by the extra load the cables had to carry since the first cable failure.

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Telescope Used in Search for Extraterrestrial Life Badly Damaged in Freak Accident

August 26, 2020
ExoNews Editor

Article by Dan Satherley August 16, 2020 (newshub.co.nz)

• Puerto Rico’s Arecibo Observatory is one of the world’s largest telescopes, and was featured in the 1997 Jodie Foster film ‘Contact’ and 1995’s Bond classic ‘Goldeneye’. As depicted in the movies, the observatory was often employed in the search for extraterrestrials.

• Earlier in August, the University of Central Florida – which operates the facility – says a metal cable snapped, tearing a 30m-long gash in the dish. (pictured above) The damage was so extensive, it smashed through several other cables and platforms that support the dish, causing debris to rain down on the ground below and making it harder for technicians to access the site.

• “We have a team of experts assessing the situation,” Arecibo director Francisco Cordova said. “Our focus is assuring the safety of our staff, protecting the facilities and equipment and restoring the facility to full operations as soon as possible, so it can continue to assist scientists around the world.”

• Arecibo has been a key part of the international SETI (Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence) program, used to not only look for signals from outer space, but send them as well. The telescope is also a key part of Earth’s defense against incoming asteroids and comets that could potentially threaten life on Earth.

One of the world’s largest telescopes, used to look for extraterrestrial life, has been badly damaged in a freak accident.

Puerto Rico’s Arecibo Observatory is about three rugby fields wide, and featured in the 1997 Jodie Foster film Contact and 1995’s Bond classic Goldeneye.

The University of Central Florida – which operates the facility – says a metal cable snapped last week, tearing a 30m-long gash in the dish.
“We have a team of experts assessing the situation,” Arecibo director Francisco Cordova said.

“Our focus is assuring the safety of our staff, protecting the facilities and equipment and restoring the facility to full operations as soon as possible, so it can continue to assist scientists around the world.”

LiveScience reports the damage was so extensive, it “smashed through several other cables and platforms that support the dish, causing debris to rain down on the ground below and making it harder for technicians to access the site”.

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44 Years After Its First Message to Aliens, Arecibo Observatory Calls For Follow-Up

November 26, 2018
ExoNews Editor

by Alan Boyle November 16, 2018 (geekwire.com)

• In 1974, the first Arecibo Message transmitted from the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico was designed by SETI astronomers including Frank Drake and Carl Sagen and was beamed by radio transmission from the Arecibo telescope in the direction of the M13 star cluster in the constellation Hercules. It was meant as an intergalactic greeting from planet Earth. (see image of message below)

• The shapes shown on the Arecibo Message grid represent a variety of concepts ranging from the numbers 1 through 10 to the chemical constituents of DNA, our solar system’s planets and the telescope itself, plus a stick figure that stands for humanity. Other types of messages have been sent out periodically since then as well.

• Since the first transmission was sent in 1974, the three minutes’ worth of radio waves have rippled out to a distance of 44 light-years, or less than 0.2 percent of the way to M13 star cluster. Experts acknowledge that it’s extremely unlikely the message will ever be detected and decoded by an alien civilization.

• Now the Planetary Habitability Laboratory at the University of Puerto Rico at Arecibo Observatory wants to transmit a second Arecibo Message from Arecibo’s 1,000-foot-wide radio telescope. They’ve announced a student-focused competition to design a new message to beam to extraterrestrials. In order to qualify and ultimately register, student competitors will first need to solve a series of brain-teasing puzzles posted on Arecibo’s website. The contest is open to teams from around the world, in classes ranging from kindergarten to college. Each team should consist of five students plus an adult mentor – for example, a teacher, professor or professional scientist. The first challenge will be posted on December 16th. Clues and follow-up activities will be rolled out periodically over the next year, and the winning team is due to be revealed next fall during a celebration of the Arecibo Message’s 45th anniversary. (see 1:08 minute video below)

• Experts continue to debate the wisdom of broadcasting our existence to the rest of the universe. Most famously, the late physicist Stephen Hawking said letting extraterrestrials know where we are could turn out as badly for us as Christopher Columbus’ arrival in the New World turned out for Native Americans.

The Arecibo Observatory today kicked off a student-focused competition to design a new message to beam to extraterrestrials, 44 years to the day since the first deliberate message was sent out from Arecibo’s 1,000-foot-wide radio telescope.

“Our society and our technology have changed a lot since 1974,” Francisco Cordova, the observatory’s director, said in a news release. “So if we were assembling our message today, what would it say? What would it look like? What one would need to learn to be able to design the right updated message from the earthlings? Those are the questions we are posing to young people around the world through the New Arecibo Message – the global challenge.”

**The Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico**

It’s not just about the message, however: Competitors will have to solve brain-teasing puzzles posted on Arecibo’s website in order to qualify, get instructions, register and submit their designs. Along the way, they’ll learn about space science, the scientific method and Arecibo’s story.

“We have quite a few surprises in store for participants, and we will be sharing more details as the competition progresses,” Cordova said.

The contest is open to teams from around the world, in classes ranging from kindergarten to college. Each team should consist of five students plus an adult mentor – for example, a teacher, professor or professional scientist. The first challenge will be posted on Dec. 16.

“Teams should wait until the release of the first challenge on December 16, since they will need to solve that challenge to be able to register,” Abel Méndez, director of the Planetary Habitability Laboratory at the University of Puerto Rico at Arecibo, told me in an email. “Meanwhile, team leaders should subscribe to the Arecibo newsletter for updates and start forming their own teams.”

Clues and follow-up activities will be rolled out periodically over the next year, and the winning team is due to be revealed next fall during a celebration of the Arecibo Message’s 45th anniversary.

1:08 minute video on the 1974 Arecibo Message

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Tag: Arecibo Observatory

Telescope Used to Look for Alien Life Has Completely Collapsed

Famed Puerto Rico Telescope to Close

More Damage at Arecibo Alien-Hunting Facility

Telescope Used in Search for Extraterrestrial Life Badly Damaged in Freak Accident

44 Years After Its First Message to Aliens, Arecibo Observatory Calls For Follow-Up