The end of an era: Aricebo will be demolished.

I saw that, and was sad to hear it. Arecibo certainly did some great work over the years, and was a heck of a movie backdrop as well!

I didn't realize that management of the site had changed from Cornell to the University of Central Florida.

Years ago, I remember running the SETI@Home software on my old Mac, and explaining to my then very young son what it was doing. He'd watch the graphical depiction of the noise being analyzed with great intensity, and every time he'd see a spike, he'd grab my arm and ask 'is that an alien?!'. Good times.
 
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Yeah, saw that as well. It may collapse on itself before they even get the funding/plans to have it done in a controlled manner. Certainly a unique array.
 
I don't recall ever hearing about it! But then again, I've never been very interested in space, other than as it pertains to creation.
 
Fallsrider said:
I don't recall ever hearing about it! But then again, I've never been very interested in space, other than as it pertains to creation.
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A lot of people only know it from Goldeneye:

Or Contact:
Screenshot-from-Contact-movie-with-Arecibo-radio-telescope-in-the-background-C-Warner.png
 
It will make one of skate board area.
 
It was used for a lot of planetary research. For example, it was used to determine the rotation of Mercury is 59 days.
 
In better days...
 

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Current plan is to only remove the 900 ton instrument platform over the dish. Multiple independent engineering teams have determined that the danger level of installing new suspension cables is so great that it’s too much of a risk to repair crews.
 
I never realized that the dish was a network of cables and frames. I always thought it was an excavated dish in the earth.
 
Sac Arrow said:
I never realized that the dish was a network of cables and frames. I always thought it was an excavated dish in the earth.
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Same. I always thought it was a massive concave concrete dish poured into a dug-out landscape.
 
It was also used as a spy antenna back in the day. It is one of the few antennas that can do RADAR mapping of objects in Low Earth Orbit.
 
I had the pleasure of going out on the platform in 2005. BTW, when you look at that fence around the perimeter of the dish, that fence is 50 feet high. You wouldn't guess it, but due to the size of the dish (1000 feet across) 50 feet doesn't look all that big.

Here are some views from the visit 15 years ago...

View of the platform from around the visitor's center.
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The reflector, with that 50 foot high fence at the edge.
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The visitor's center from the platform
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Remember the antenna from Golden Eye? It's real.
100OLYMP-P6290046_P6290046.JPG
 
I’ve seen stories suggesting manufacturing defect in the cables that were added when the platform was expanded from 500 tons to 900 tons. But the second cable that snapped was from the original set, and it seems that one of the stories was also trying to claim manufacturing defect? But I’ve also seen some photos of someone standing on the cables that looked like the tops of the cables were well painted, but the bottoms, not so much. So maybe a maintenance issue with inadequate paint work/QC.
 
I remember seeing it on a 321 Contact episode when I was a kid. Quite the marvel, but nothing lasts forever.
 
Aricebo.

Sounds like my wife asking me what I want for lunch.

hon, gusto mo ba ng isang a ricebo para sa tanghalian.??

Which I think means..... Hon, do you want fish eyeballs and fish butt holes on a bowl of rice for lunch.??

I learned long ago to NOT say, ''I'll just have what you're having''...
 
Zeldman said:
Aricebo.

Sounds like my wife asking me what I want for lunch.

hon, gusto mo ba ng isang a ricebo para sa tanghalian.??

Which I think means..... Hon, do you want fish eyeballs and fish butt holes on a bowl of rice for lunch.??

I learned long ago to NOT say, ''I'll just have what you're having''...
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Depending on the language, I think she is asking if you want a receipt for your lunch purchase (with the missing letter added below) :)
"gusto mo ba ng isang sa ricebo para sa tanghalian"
 
Zeldman said:
Aricebo.

Sounds like my wife asking me what I want for lunch.

hon, gusto mo ba ng isang a ricebo para sa tanghalian.??

Which I think means..... Hon, do you want fish eyeballs and fish butt holes on a bowl of rice for lunch.??

I learned long ago to NOT say, ''I'll just have what you're having''...
Click to expand...

fwiw it's Arecibo (Ah-reh-cee-boh). It's Taíno for the Cacique (native chief) of that area in the late-15th early 16th century, which the Spanish colonists phonetically named the town for.
 
My wife and I decided to fly over to Arecibo today. we wanted to get some pictures from the air, but there was weather moving in. This is the best we were able to get, with my wife shooting across my face out my window. maybe tomorrow will be better when we go to Aguadilla.
 

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Ghery said:
I had the pleasure of going out on the platform in 2005. BTW, when you look at that fence around the perimeter of the dish, that fence is 50 feet high. You wouldn't guess it, but due to the size of the dish (1000 feet across) 50 feet doesn't look all that big.

Here are some views from the visit 15 years ago...

View of the platform from around the visitor's center.
View attachment 91979

The reflector, with that 50 foot high fence at the edge.
View attachment 91980

The visitor's center from the platform
View attachment 91981
Remember the antenna from Golden Eye? It's real.
View attachment 91983
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Judging from your photos, the cable failure couldn't have been much of a surprise. It looks like maintenance has been deferred for decades.
 
I have to believe all the bird crap on those cables would eventually cause problems.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I learned last week that we are in the middle of a galactic void. But not a supervoid.

Which has interesting pluses and minuses for searching for stuff, including life, and how much stuff is blocked from our vantage point.

Which will now be carried around jn my own supervoid in my head as useless trivia until the day I die. LOL
 
3393RP said:
Judging from your photos, the cable failure couldn't have been much of a surprise. It looks like maintenance has been deferred for decades.
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From what I've read the cables have been maintained over the years. But that rust on the platform does tend to get your attention.
 
A news story this morning says that the platform (and, I assume, cables) collapsed this morning before 8 am local time. This was before a controlled demolition was planned. RIP, Arecibo.
 
On one article I saw before and after pictures showing the loss of the top portions of the three towers. Well, pick up the pieces and rebuild the thing. It's only money (yeah, right).
 
Oh, that's a heartbreaking image. :(
 
57 years is a good run for a stressed structure in a warm, humid environment.
 
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