World-Renowned Arecibo Radio Telescope Set To Be Dismantled

The world-renowned radio telescope at the Arecibo Observatory in northern Puerto Rico, now on the brink of collapse, is set to be withdrawn from service, the National Science Foundation (NSF) announced today.

Each of the observatory's three towers has four primary cables that hold up a 900-ton equipment platform suspended above the telescope's massive reflector dish. In early August, an auxiliary cable slipped from its socket on Tower 4, carving a 100-foot-long gash into the dish.

And on Nov. 6, a main cable — also attached to Tower 4 – snapped. If another of Tower 4's cables ruptures, the platform might not hold and could collapse into the telescope's dish. Inspections of other cables revealed breaks and slippages as well.

Sean Jones, Director for the Mathematical and Physical Sciences Directorate at the NSF, said the telescope will be dismantled. The rest of the observatory will remain open.

Jones said the NSF's goal had initially been to preserve the telescope without putting people's safety at risk.