A second damage occurred at a significant astronomical observatory. A 3-inch-thick auxiliary cable popped out of its socket in August at the Arecibo Observatory and ripped a 100-foot gash into the reflector dish below. Then, an essential cable broke from the same tower on Friday evening and smashed through the antenna, further destroying the panels and other cables.
The recent loss is being examined by authorities, but they do not yet know why the current cable broke. The University of Central Florida, which works closely with the telescope, said that the split could be due to the extra weight that the cable has been bearing since August.
It was not immediately clear the magnitude of the new damage. In any event, no persons were hurt.
"This is not good, but we remain committed to getting the facility back online," observatory director Francisco Cordova said in the release. "It's just too important of a tool for the advancement of science."
The observatory from the James Bond movie "GoldenEye" might be remembered by certain persons, but scientists recognise it for its commitments to planetary protection and the quest for intelligent life. In terms of detecting space rocks on a collision path early enough to interfere before they hit, scientists use the 20-acre radio telescope to research harmful asteroids as they pass past Earth.
To scan for evidence of intelligent extraterrestrial existence, scientists have also used Arecibo. In 1974, the observatory beamed out Earth's strongest transmission ever sent to interact with possible aliens. The first repeating short radio bursts, enigmatic space signals that scientists now believe originate from dead stars, were observed in 2016.
"Its sensitivity is so much greater than any other instrument and it's so much more flexible," Joanna Rankin, a radio astronomer at the University of Vermont, told Science, adding that Arecibo can see "from the stratosphere to the far reaches of the universe."
It may take tens of millions of dollars to rebuild the observatory
Engineers are expected to launch repairs this week after the crash in August. But they are now trying to protect and stabilize the foundation of the observatory after the latest collapse.
"This is not good, but we remain committed to getting the facility back online," observatory director Francisco Cordova said in the release. "It's just too important of a tool for the advancement of science."
Managers of the Observatory are now preparing to step up the arrival of two new cables they have already requested. When they review the system in the coming days, experts will reassess what more is required.
The university said that there is no cost estimation for the required maintenance at present.
In October, UCF applied for $10.5 million for immediate maintenance from the National Science Foundation ( NSF), which operates the observatory, Science said. The NSF granted $2 million to restore the destruction after the observatory was battered by Hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017.
For four-year maintenance and capital upgrades in 2019, the NSF allocated $12.3 million, UCF announced.
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