Footage shows catastrophic collapse of iconic Puerto Rico telescope
Dramatic video from Puerto Rico captures the moment when a 816-tonne platform came crashing down on the Arecibo Observatory, shattering one of the world's largest telescopes and striking a crushing blow to the global scientific community.
© RICARDO ARDUENGO/AFP via Getty Images
This aerial view shows the damage at the Arecibo Observatory after one of the main cables holding the receiver broke in Arecibo, Puerto Rico, on December 1, 2020.
The catastrophic collapse happened on Dec. 1, less than two weeks after the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) warned that such a disaster was imminent. The NSF had already shuttered operations at the facility after a suspension cable snapped and slashed a hole in the dish last month.
Read more: Massive Puerto Rico radio telescope collapses after cables snap
The telescope was the largest of its kind when it opened in 1963, and it has contributed to all manner of astronomical discoveries over the years, from asteroids to planets to mysterious radio signals in space. It also won a place in pop culture as the set for such films as Contact and GoldenEye, the first James Bond movie starring Pierce Brosnan.
The observatory's telescope consisted of a 816-tonne reflector dish platform suspended 137 metres above a massive, bowl-like dish, which measured 305 metres across.
Suspension cables holding up the platform snapped on Dec. 1, dropping the heavy platform on the dish with a tremendous crash.
Video: Aerial footage shows damage caused by Arecibo radio telescope collapse
Video captured by the Arecibo control tower shows one of the three major cables snapping, causing the platform to swing down on the remaining cables before snapping them, too.
The footage shows the reflector dish platform falling apart in mid-air, while dragging down several support towers behind it.
Drone footage captured from one of the support towers shows the moment when the first cable snapped. The cable snapped at the tower, then the whole structure came crashing down, pulling other towers with it and cracking the bowl of the telescope. Large clouds of dust rose from the bowl after the catastrophe.
Read more: Mysterious radio signal from space traced to ‘zombie’ in our galaxy
Jonathan Friedman, who worked for 26 years at the facility and still lives nearby, described the awful sound of the collapse in an interview with the Associated Press.
“It sounded like a rumble. I knew exactly what it was,” he said. “I was screaming. Personally, I was out of control. … I don’t have words to express it. It’s a very deep, terrible feeling.”
Many scientists, Puerto Rico residents and other public figures mourned the telescope's loss after it was closed, and again after it collapsed.
Ángel Vázquez, the telescope’s director of operations, said it was no surprise when the telescope fell apart early Tuesday.
“It was a snowball effect,” he said. “There was no way to stop it. ... It was too much for the old girl to take.”
The catastrophic collapse happened on Dec. 1, less than two weeks after the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) warned that such a disaster was imminent. The NSF had already shuttered operations at the facility after a suspension cable snapped and slashed a hole in the dish last month.
Read more: Massive Puerto Rico radio telescope collapses after cables snap
The telescope was the largest of its kind when it opened in 1963, and it has contributed to all manner of astronomical discoveries over the years, from asteroids to planets to mysterious radio signals in space. It also won a place in pop culture as the set for such films as Contact and GoldenEye, the first James Bond movie starring Pierce Brosnan.
The observatory's telescope consisted of a 816-tonne reflector dish platform suspended 137 metres above a massive, bowl-like dish, which measured 305 metres across.
Suspension cables holding up the platform snapped on Dec. 1, dropping the heavy platform on the dish with a tremendous crash.
Video: Aerial footage shows damage caused by Arecibo radio telescope collapse
Video captured by the Arecibo control tower shows one of the three major cables snapping, causing the platform to swing down on the remaining cables before snapping them, too.
The footage shows the reflector dish platform falling apart in mid-air, while dragging down several support towers behind it.
Drone footage captured from one of the support towers shows the moment when the first cable snapped. The cable snapped at the tower, then the whole structure came crashing down, pulling other towers with it and cracking the bowl of the telescope. Large clouds of dust rose from the bowl after the catastrophe.
Read more: Mysterious radio signal from space traced to ‘zombie’ in our galaxy
Jonathan Friedman, who worked for 26 years at the facility and still lives nearby, described the awful sound of the collapse in an interview with the Associated Press.
“It sounded like a rumble. I knew exactly what it was,” he said. “I was screaming. Personally, I was out of control. … I don’t have words to express it. It’s a very deep, terrible feeling.”
Many scientists, Puerto Rico residents and other public figures mourned the telescope's loss after it was closed, and again after it collapsed.
Ángel Vázquez, the telescope’s director of operations, said it was no surprise when the telescope fell apart early Tuesday.
“It was a snowball effect,” he said. “There was no way to stop it. ... It was too much for the old girl to take.”
Huge Puerto Rico radio telescope, already damaged, collapses
ARECIBO, 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 has now completely collapsed. The telescope’s 900-ton receiver platform fell onto the reflector dish more than 400 feet below on Tuesday. 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) reflector dish and damaged the receiver platform that hung above it. Then a main cable broke in early November.
© Provided by The Canadian Press
DáNica Coto, The Associated Press
DáNica Coto, The Associated Press
No comments:
Post a Comment