spacetoday.net: Arecibo radio telescope damaged

Arecibo radio telescope damaged

Posted: Sat, Aug 15, 2020, 4:30 PM ET (2030 GMT)
Arecibo radio observatory (NAIC)

The Arecibo radio telescope is out of service after a broken cable damaged part of the giant observatory. The cable, used to help suspend a platform over the 305-meter dish, snapped in the early morning hours Monday, creating a gash 30 meters long in the dish and causing other damage. Observatory officials said they're assessing the situation and will seek to get the telescope repaired as soon as possible, but did not estimate how long it will take or how much the repairs will cost. The radio telescope is used for astronomical research, and NASA provides some funding for a planetary radar there that can track and characterize near Earth asteroids.