Famous Arecibo Observatory Puerto Rico suffered another major setback, with two cables damaging the damaged resource.
At the heart of the facility is a large radio telescope built in the geology of the island and surrounded by jungle. The Arecibo Observatory has been in operation for more than five decades, including the most famous broadcast in 1974, called the Arecibo Message, to update any intellectual life about our technical expertise. But recently, the Observatory collapsed: “I felt it first.”Relatively minor“Damage from Hurricane Maria in 2017; already suffered a batch this year Earthquake in January And then lost one of them Thick cables, The dish was smashed and damaged in August. Now, another cable broke just three months later.
“Of course this is not what we wanted to see, but the important thing is that no one was injured,” said Francisco Cordova, director of the observatory. Said in a statement Released by the University of Central Florida, which manages the facility.
Related: The Arecibo Observatory: Puerto Rico’s giant radio telescope in photos
We are focused on our evaluation and priority safety in planning the repairs, which were scheduled to begin on Tuesday, ”Cordova said, referring to plans to break the cable in August. “This is it now. There is a lot of uncertainty until the structure is stabilized. We are paying our full attention to this. We are evaluating the situation with our experts and hope to be able to share more soon.”
The statement said the newly broken cable was one of the key cables connecting to the same tower as the resource-damaged cable in August. That cable is likely to fall out of its socket and completely disconnect on November 6, causing damage to other cables and the main resource.
No injuries were reported in the incident but the observatory was urged to restrict access to the area. Surveillance officials hope to install more reinforcements in the tower to protect other cables when additional repairs are needed.
“It’s not good, but we’re committed to getting this facility back online,” Cordova said. “This is very important for a tool for the advancement of science.”
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