Famous Arecibo Observatory In Puerto Rico, a difficult year suffered another major blow, witnessing two broken cables damaging a fragile plate.
The heart of the facility is a large exquisite radio telescope built into the geological environment of the island and surrounded by jungle. The Arecibo Observatory has been in operation for more than five years, including the most famous broadcast in 1974, the so-called Arecibo Information, which aims to update any intelligent life about our technical skills. But recently, the observatory has been hit hard: first, it has suffered “Relatively small“It was devastated in the large-scale hurricane Maria in 201
The director of the observatory, Francisco Cordova, said: “Of course this is not what we want to see, but the important thing is that no one was injured.” Said in the statement Issued by the University of Central Florida, which manages the facility.
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Cordova said: “We have considered thoroughly in the evaluation work, and put safety first in the maintenance plan scheduled to start on Tuesday.” “Now, there will be a lot of uncertainty until we stabilize the structure. We will do our best to Go. We are assessing the situation with experts and hope to share more soon.”
According to the statement, the newly broken cable is one of the main supporting cables connected to the same tower as the cable from the damaged reel in August. The university said that the cable that slipped from the socket could add extra weight to the cable that broke completely on November 6 and damage other cables and the main disc.
The incident did not cause any harm, but prompted the observatory to restrict access to the area. Now, the observatory personnel hope to be able to install reinforcements on the tower to protect other cables, and to assess what other repairs are needed.
Cordova said: “This is not good, but we are still committed to bringing the facility back online.” “Tools are too important for scientific development.”
Email Meghan Bartels to mbartels@space.com, or follow her on Twitter @meghanbartels.follow us On Twitter @Spacedotcom and Facebook.
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