Just Sharing This Arecibo Observatory - the end of an era

Channel Hopper

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Terryl

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From what I have seen of the damage it may not be too dangerous but too costly to repair and a bit complicated to do so.

To repair it you would have to first remove the center beam steering housing, this to keep it from falling and doing far more serious damage, but to do that you would have to clear out the center of the main reflector, that would be the only way to lower it down, problems with that would be the snapped cables that were helping to hold the housing in place, these would have to be replaced, but in order to do that sections of the main reflector would have to be removed at that support pylon location, this to clear a path for the new cables to be raised.

It would be better to completely remove it and build a new one in it's place.
 

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What Ive seen suggests the 3 support towers are to dynamited & 900 tons of antenna will be allowed to fall into the reflector :(
 

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Well that's the quick and easy way to do it.

I'd start asking for donations to replace it, it's a valuable part of our deep space net, it could save us from a fate like the Dinosaurs, give us time to build underground bunkers. (mine's done)
 

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Even if this iteration isnt savable I would hope the proud history of the site counts for something & a new telescope arises from the ruins sometime soon
 

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Well that's the quick and easy way to do it.

I'd start asking for donations to replace it, it's a valuable part of our deep space net, it could save us from a fate like the Dinosaurs, give us time to build underground bunkers. (mine's done)
Before the 900 tons of kit does its usual gravity thing, I would fill the back of the reflector with hardcore and pour concrete into the remaining space. Once set, install whatever rubber/mattresses/cushions are required to break the fall, topping up to the rim with tennis balls or surrounding foliage if necessary.

At least when the heavy stuff falls the parabola is a permanent memory of the earlier metal structure , and could be reused with little more than a new surface of modern material.
 

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The main reflector is a wire mesh suspended by cables, you can walk under it, it free floats off the ground by several meters or so, the cables are attached to a main ring at the top, these cables are what gives it the spherical shape.(it is not a parabolic)

And i don't think they would want to use dynamite as the dish is built in an old sinkhole, the rain that falls into the dish (and then down in to the sinkhole) is used as the main water supply for the town of Arecibo, muck around with that and you would have bigger problems.
 

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The main reflector is a wire mesh suspended by cables, you can walk under it, it free floats off the ground by several meters or so, the cables are attached to a main ring at the top, these cables are what gives it the spherical shape.(it is not a parabolic)

And i don't think they would want to use dynamite as the dish is built in an old sinkhole, the rain that falls into the dish (and then down in to the sinkhole) is used as the main water supply for the town of Arecibo, muck around with that and you would have bigger problems.
Which is why I mentioned hardcore as a foundation (not the type Martians have an affinity).
 

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The main reflector is a wire mesh suspended by cables, you can walk under it, it free floats off the ground by several meters or so, the cables are attached to a main ring at the top, these cables are what gives it the spherical shape.(it is not a parabolic)

And i don't think they would want to use dynamite as the dish is built in an old sinkhole, the rain that falls into the dish (and then down in to the sinkhole) is used as the main water supply for the town of Arecibo, muck around with that and you would have bigger problems.

I dont see any alternative apart from letting 900 tons of soon to be scrap metal falling into the crater. The weight of the antenna is well beyond the lift capacity of any aircraft and they cant get workers onto the antenna framework to break it up a bit at a time due to the weakness of the support cables and the consequent danger to any work crew.
 

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Is that the one from the Bond movie?
 

dig deep

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Well it's gone for good now, collapsed today...
 

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A few bags of quick drying concrete and you have one hell of a skateboard park
 

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:-ohcrap

Thats a really sad end to a magnificent telescope.:-ohmy:-ohmy
 

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jeallen01

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Wonder if those cables breaking was the result of inadequate longterm detailed inspections, checks and repairs/replacements?
 

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The observatory had a drone up examining the support cables when they broke!


breakage starts at about 0:53
 
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