# Arecibo Radio Telescope damage; Puerto Rico \[has collapsed\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 14, 2020, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arecibo-radio-telescope-damage-puerto-rico-has-collapsed/918104 "2020-08-14T16:30:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2021, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arecibo-radio-telescope-damage-puerto-rico-has-collapsed/918104/61 "2021-04-01T03:05:52Z")
I’ve read that Arecibo was especially useful in tracking already discovered asteroids. So their trajectories could be projected further into the future. The lead times for practical planetary defense are measured in decades, not years. But I see that Lindley Johnson, of NASA’s Planetary Defense Coordination Office demurs: “As far as planetary defense and NEO [near-Earth object] observations are concerned, it’s only a slight negative impact. It doesn’t affect our discovery rate of near-Earth objects at all, it only has some impact on the opportunities we have to characterize these objects.” [After Arecibo, NASA isn't sure what comes next for planetary radar | Space](https://www.space.com/arecibo-observatory-loss-nasa-planetary-defense) Arecibo proponents hit back here: [Losing Arecibo's giant dish leaves humans more vulnerable to space rocks, scientists say | Space](https://www.space.com/arecibo-observatory-loss-for-planetary-defense-asteroids) And here: > “In planetary defense, Arecibo has unparalleled capabilities to characterize the detailed shapes of near-Earth asteroids,” Bruck Syal [a planetary defense researcher at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory] says. Knowing a threatening asteroid’s shape, in turn, helps to predict how it might react to deflection attempts using nuclear explosives or kinetic impactors. Arecibo could also nail down the position of near-Earth asteroids very precisely so that their orbital paths could be more accurately predicted. “That’s essential for driving down the uncertainty on whether an asteroid might impact Earth in the future or not,” Bruck Syal says. > **[Arecibo's Collapse Sends Dire Warning to Other Aging Observatories](https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/arecibos-collapse-sends-dire-warning-to-other-aging-observatories/)** > > The iconic telescope’s tragic end foreshadows future battles over the fate of various legacy facilities Admittedly, it was an old observatory, one that the NSF tried to take off its hands starting in 2006. Funding it isn’t exactly no-brainer and I frankly wonder whether the next big radar observatory should be designed around requirements, not location. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2021, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arecibo-radio-telescope-damage-puerto-rico-has-collapsed/918104/62 "2021-04-01T04:17:21Z")
> **[The Collapse of Puerto Rico’s Iconic Telescope](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/04/05/the-collapse-of-puerto-ricos-iconic-telescope)** > > The uncertain future of the Arecibo Observatory, and the end of an era in space science. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2022, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arecibo-radio-telescope-damage-puerto-rico-has-collapsed/918104/63 "2022-10-14T07:22:57Z")
> **[Fallen Arecibo Observatory telescope won't be rebuilt despite scientists' hopes](https://www.space.com/arecibo-observatory-telescope-replaced-education-center)** > > Puerto Rico's iconic radio telescope, which collapsed in 2020, won't be rebuilt, although the site will see a new education center open next year. ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2022, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arecibo-radio-telescope-damage-puerto-rico-has-collapsed/918104/64 "2022-10-14T12:02:22Z")
Oh, that’s sad. They did some great work there. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2022, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arecibo-radio-telescope-damage-puerto-rico-has-collapsed/918104/65 "2022-10-14T13:00:10Z")
Seems NSF figured that the cost/benefit of a new installation — and it would have had to be fully new, this was not fixable — was beyond what they could justify. But even more so, it also concluded that the _other_ observatory instruments and activities on-site (the Big Dish was not the only thing, only the, well, biggest) would no longer be supported either, at least it did not include funding for them. _That_ stung the local academics and authorities: a mere “STEM education center” they could have put in any more conveniently located town for less. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2024, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arecibo-radio-telescope-damage-puerto-rico-has-collapsed/918104/66 "2024-10-31T15:17:03Z")
There is a new report out on what caused the failure: > Long-term zinc creep-induced failure in the 57-year-old telescope’s cable spelter sockets was the root cause of the telescope’s collapse, the report says. Sockets filled with zinc held in place a set of cables suspending the telescope’s main platform over the reflector dish. Gradually the zinc lost its hold on the cables and allowed several of them to pull out, leading to the collapse of the platform into the reflector. > > The failure sequence began with Hurricane Maria, over three years prior to the collapse, according to the report. Indications of cable pullout were minimal before the hurricane. Large and progressive cable pullouts could be seen during post-hurricane visual inspections, observation of which should have prompted remedial action. Safety factor calculations made following the first cable failure did not recognize the accelerated time-dependent materials failure process governing the eventual zinc pull out… > > A possible explanation for the accelerated zinc-creep is long-term low-current electroplasticity, induced by the electromagnetic waves from the Arecibo Telescope. **Failure and Collapse of the Arecibo Observatory Telescope Assessed by New Report** [https://www.nationalacademies.org/news/10/2024/failure-and-collapse-of-the-arecibo-observatory-telescope-assessed-by-new-report](https://www.nationalacademies.org/news/10/2024/failure-and-collapse-of-the-arecibo-observatory-telescope-assessed-by-new-report) Here is the free full 112 page report: [https://nap.nationalacademies.org/login.php?record\_id=26982](https://nap.nationalacademies.org/login.php?record_id=26982) ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2024, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arecibo-radio-telescope-damage-puerto-rico-has-collapsed/918104/67 "2024-10-31T15:52:57Z")
> [@PastTense](#): > > Long-term zinc creep-induced failure in the 57-year-old telescope’s cable spelter sockets was the root cause of the telescope’s collapse, the report says. Sockets filled with zinc held in place a set of cables suspending the telescope’s main platform over the reflector dish. Gradually the zinc lost its hold on the cables and allowed several of them to pull out, leading to the collapse of the platform into the reflector. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/jWpPrWHBHcQ/maxresdefault.jpg "The Simpsons - World Without Zinc") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWpPrWHBHcQ) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arecibo-radio-telescope-damage-puerto-rico-has-collapsed/918104.md?page=3)