The Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico is in an exceptionally precarious United States Department of State following the recent failure of two support cable television service , place the future of this illustrious facility in doubt .
As we feared , the berth at Arecibo is likely dire . With two documentation cables gone , the 900 - ton political program located straight above the dishful is now being brook by the remain main and auxiliary cables — some of which are already fraying , accordingto the University of Central Florida ( UCF ) .
The trouble began on August 10 , when anauxiliary cablegram fall onto the ravisher , have panoptic damage . A main line subsequentlysnappedon November 6 , which served to make the spot even bad . A safety zone has been fructify up around the damaged reflector dish , and the only personnel allowed at the installation are those attending to the crisis . Engineers from three dissimilar engineering house are currently assess the damage and seek to organise potential solution . The UCF manages Arecibo for the National Science Foundation ( NSF ) , in a cooperative agreement that involves Universidad Ana G. Méndez and Yang Enterprises .
That cable doesn’t look so good. This drone photo of the Arecibo Observatory was taken after November 6, when a main cable snapped and fell onto the receiving dish below.Image: UCF Today
build in the early 1960s , the darling observatory is starting to show its age . The facility is used by scientists around the cosmos for a broad chain of mountains of tasks , from atmospherical , stellar , and worldwide scientific discipline through to searches for noncitizen and potentially hazardous asteroids . Arecibo , as one of the most recognizable lookout in the world , was featured in the 1995 undercover agent film GoldenEye and the 1997 sci - fi film Contact , in which Jodi Foster portrayed a SETI scientist . The observatory has a frustrating history , however , feature to endureearthquakes , hurricanes , andfiscal uncertainties .
The engineers presently working at Arecibo are still trying to determine the cause of the recent cable television failures and assess the observatory ’s term , which they ’re doing with aery drones and remote tv camera . As UCF Todayreports , the facility is designed such that the primary cable should ’ve been able to handle the extra loading after the collapse of the auxiliary cable , but it did not . A preliminary analytic thinking suggests the second cable failed because “ it has degraded over time and has been carrying extra load since August , ” according to UCF Today . The engineers will hear more once the fail chief cable length is analyzed .
Troublingly , all of the remaining cables are now “ supporting more weight than before , increasing the likeliness of another line failure , which would belike lead in the collapse of the integral structure , ” notes the UCF report . What ’s more , some of these cables are exhibiting wire breaks , point to the sincerity of the post . As UCF Today points out , the technology business firm “ can not aver the integrity of the other cable at this time . ”
Mike Nolan , a research prof from the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory at the University of Arizona , said the situation at Arecibo is quite serious .
“ The original cable failure in August was manifestly a enshroud manufacture mar that was probably — my conjecture — triggered by the recent serial of quake in Puerto Rico , ” he explain in an electronic mail . “ Now that a second cable television has failed , apparently due to overstress , we are all very concerned . There are six cables from that tower to the suspended social organisation : If two more bomb on that same tower , the suspended structure emphatically fall . ”
Priority now is to take some of the tension off the stay cables , Nolan say , “ either by reducing the warhead or adding reenforcement , ” or a combining of the two , “ so that the job of the manufacturing defect can be addressed . ”
Officials with the lookout are trying to expedite receipt of two new support cable television service currently on order , and they ’ve asked the NSF for financial assistance to help with temporary reparation .
Estimates from observatory official place the current cost of the damage at $ 12 million , reportsthe AP .
The NSF has “ ensured that Arecibo Observatory has all cash in hand needed for parking brake repair , engineering and forensic valuation since the first cable unsuccessful person , ” explain NSF spokesperson Rob Margetta in an email . The NSF , he said , has “ clear Arecibo to take all reasonable steps and use permissible monetary resource to batten down the take analysis and equipment , ” and the NSF “ is currently wait on applied science depth psychology and price estimates . ” When inquire if there ’s a future for Arecibo , Margetta said the applied science and cost estimate are still on-going and that the NSF wo n’t be able to answer this question until they ’re stark .
In an e-mail , NASA spokesperson Joshua Handal said the damage to Arecibo is still being valuate by the observatory management at UCF , after which the NSF “ will consult with stakeholders , include NASA , to regulate how to proceed . ”
The future of the Arecibo Observatory , it ’s fair to say , is now a big question crisscross . And that ’s a genuine shame , give its scientific grandness .
“ The Arecibo Observatory is not the big radio telescope in the existence , but it is still the bounteous and most sinewy radio detection and ranging . Most wireless telescopes can only receive radio signals , but Arecibo can also transmit , as radars do , ” Abel Méndez , familiar prof of physics and space biology from the Planetary Habitability Lab at the University of Puerto Rico - Arecibo , suppose in an email . “ Therefore , Arecibo is the best instrumental role in the earth to study the properties and flight of any potentially hazardous asteroid impress toward Earth . ”
https://gizmodo.com/asteroid-apophis-could-one-day-hit-earth-heres-how-we-1845667626
During a recently concludedworkshopto research the various ways we could enquire the potentially hazardous Apophis asteroid when it pass Earth in 2029 , Arecibo inquiry scientist Anne Virkki expressed her concerns about the facility not being usable any time shortly . She had been planning to do radiocommunication scans of the asteroid in March 2021 , when Apophis will come to within 10.5 million international mile ( 16.9 million km ) of Earth . Indeed , this now seems unconvincing move over the current situation . It ’s a real loss , as scientists need tostudy this asteroidto the outstanding extent possible .
Nolan , Méndez , Virkki , and so many other inquiry scientists will now have to wait and maintain their collective breaths in hopes that the situation at Arecibo wo n’t get worse than it is now and that it can before long be remedied .
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