Gagarin Posted November 19, 2020 Report Posted November 19, 2020 https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/11/famed-arecibo-telescope-brink-collapse-will-be-dismantled 1 Quote
neilpilot Posted November 19, 2020 Report Posted November 19, 2020 In the 70s I worked in Niagara Falls for a company that had a pharmaceutical operation in Arecibo. The plan manager lived in San Juan and when the weather cooperated, which was on most days, commuted to work from TJIG to TJAB via his C172. He parked a beater at the Arecibo airport. I flew with him 4 of the days I was visiting the plant, and on the flight back to San Juan the 2nd day we overflew the telescope. I was amazed, since I hadn't previously known it was there. That was in 1974, and it was a bit newer back then. BTW - The drive to the plant was only about 1.5 hours from San Juan, but it's way more fun to fly to work. 1 Quote
EricJ Posted November 19, 2020 Report Posted November 19, 2020 Perhaps it was damaged in the spy shootout there twenty-five years ago. 1 Quote
Gagarin Posted November 19, 2020 Author Report Posted November 19, 2020 (edited) Back in the mid 70s I had a chance to study the radio telescope on site while on my electrical engineering program (BSEE). I spent a week getting familiar with the intricacies and operation of it. At the time I was also a Star Trek fan so I was tuning in for Klingons Edited November 19, 2020 by Gagarin 2 Quote
carusoam Posted November 19, 2020 Report Posted November 19, 2020 Golden Eye... - James Bond Make PR great again! It was, and can be a great pharma manufacturing center... many US pharma companies have some form of manufacturing there... Weather is great... Schools are great... People are great... (a hurricane every now and then) Unfortunately, it is really far from here, for weekly visits... So many nice places to visit on the island... PP thoughts only, haven’t been there in near a decade... With the opening of Cuba, flying to PR has much lower risk involved... Best regards, -a- Quote
0TreeLemur Posted November 20, 2020 Report Posted November 20, 2020 China has built one that dwarfs it. Given that the radio astronomy community pretty much stopped writing proposals to use the Arecibo telescope, it was being used to search for little green men. Lesson here for MS: Lack of maintenance in a humid, salty atmosphere is hard on metal things. Without proper maintenance, they aren't going to last too long. Quote
EricJ Posted November 20, 2020 Report Posted November 20, 2020 (edited) 11 minutes ago, 0TreeLemur said: China has built one that dwarfs it. Given that the radio astronomy community pretty much stopped writing proposals to use the Arecibo telescope, it was being used to search for little green men. Lesson here for MS: Lack of maintenance in a humid, salty atmosphere is hard on metal things. Without proper maintenance, they aren't going to last too long. Almost sixty years. That's not a bad run for a big, unique piece of equipment. Edited November 20, 2020 by EricJ 1 Quote
neilpilot Posted December 1, 2020 Report Posted December 1, 2020 The Arecibo telescope collapsed today, before it could be dismantled.......https://www.cbsnews.com/news/arecibo-observatory-radio-telescope-puerto-rico-collapses/ 1 Quote
thinwing Posted December 3, 2020 Report Posted December 3, 2020 yikes the guy filming that collaspe was sure to duck flying cables Quote
carusoam Posted December 4, 2020 Report Posted December 4, 2020 Video of the end of an era... And some insight on continued cable maintenance of ancient structures... -a- Quote
GeeBee Posted December 4, 2020 Report Posted December 4, 2020 Maybe we can turn it over to the skateboarders. Looks like it would be a good ride if you didn't fall through. Quote
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