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Arecibo telescope, on the brink of collapse, will be dismantled

sciencemag.org

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Re: Arecibo telescope, on the brink of collapse, will be dismantled

#241

Post by Obi_Juan_Kenobi »

OpticalWindows wrote: post #239

Does anyone here know if PR would be an ideal location for space launches? It is closer to the equator and surrounded by ocean. Would conditions caused by the mountains play a non trivial role in making spaceflight and launches cheaper?

The Virgin Islands and Anguilla are a big problem for a PR launch site. Even commercial shipping/fishing activity downrange can present a big problem for launches, let alone populated areas.

The lower latitude is a minor help, but it's not huge. Higher elevation is entirely negligible; orbit is about going sideways fast, not going up.

The logistic challenges of operation away from manufacturing and engineering talent in the US would far outweigh any advantages.

Re: Arecibo telescope, on the brink of collapse, will be dismantled

#243

Post by [deleted] »

Obi_Juan_Kenobi wrote: post #241
OpticalWindows wrote: post #239

Does anyone here know if PR would be an ideal location for space launches? It is closer to the equator and surrounded by ocean. Would conditions caused by the mountains play a non trivial role in making spaceflight and launches cheaper?

The Virgin Islands and Anguilla are a big problem for a PR launch site. Even commercial shipping/fishing activity downrange can present a big problem for launches, let alone populated areas. The lower latitude is a minor help, but it's not huge. Higher elevation is entirely negligible; orbit is about going sideways fast, not going up. The logistic challenges of operation away from manufacturing and engineering talent…

[deleted]

Re: Arecibo telescope, on the brink of collapse, will be dismantled

#244

Post by Apofis »

xianhn wrote: post #58

Sad day. I worked in radio astronomy and stayed on site for a week a few years back. Amazing telescope, the scale of it has to be seen to be believed. They have had serious funding issues for some time now, so now that it needs repair, I figured they might retire it. Unfortunate for all the staff that work there, it employed quite a few people. RIP Arecibo.

This sucks. So instead of attempting to fix it, they're staying on the safe side and just demolishing it instead? Full cable replacement is out of the question due to safety? That doesn't make any sense either. This is clearly a budget issue that seems to have been made by bureaucrats.

Re: Arecibo telescope, on the brink of collapse, will be dismantled

#245

Post by adventured »

smnrchrds wrote: post #206
ardy42 wrote: post #167

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Is a GoFundMe campaign outside of the realm of possibility? I know that I'd contribute to such a worthy effort, but only if the rest of the players would pledge to fund current operations. The biggest GoFundMe campaign according to Wikipedia only raised $25 million in 2020 dollars ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GoFundMe#Notable_projects , Bannon's et al's fraudulent We Build the Wall project). Arecibo cost $9.3 mi…

Wikipedia itself raises more than $120 million per year. I don't think a telescope could attract as much in donations as Wikipedia, but it is interesting to see how high could donations possibly go.

The only reason Wikipedia can do that is because it's at the top of 50% of all Google search results. Constant epic scale exposure that Wikipedia has been able to use to push for donations (and further to build up a routine of it, an understanding of how Wikipedia operates, to millions of people). Realistically Arecibo has nothing like that to leverage. Donating to Wikipedia is a value to action instant feedback process: you land on a nice and helpful Wikipedia page, you derive value, you give some value back; again, Arecibo can't offer that kind of in the moment, click of a mouse, value-donation gratification to large numbers of donors. Arecibo's donor pool is mostly the Paul Allens of the world.

Re: Arecibo telescope, on the brink of collapse, will be dismantled

#246

Post by bronson »

lightlyused wrote: post #214
Gibbon1 wrote: post #193

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Am I wrong but I remember something that it's resolution sucks because it's not parabolic.

May be true, but its real value was has a radar.

The transmission capability is part of the reason Arecibo would be so difficult to fix. The platform is almost 900 tons.

China's FAST telescope was designed without transmit, mostly to save on suspended weight. Its focus cabin is only 30 tons.

Re: Arecibo telescope, on the brink of collapse, will be dismantled

#248

Post by stjohnswarts »

myself248 wrote: post #10

Fuuuuuuuck. I understand the decision to dismantle the failing structure which is currently unsafe and tricky to repair. But might a new one be built in its place? How can we push for that?

With half the country against public education and science literacy in general, I don't have much hope for a replacement at this point.

Re: Arecibo telescope, on the brink of collapse, will be dismantled

#249

Post by stjohnswarts »

deeeeplearning wrote: post #30
lobotryas wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Whose money are you volunteering to be spent on that?

I'm sure you could trade a handful of Patriot missiles and one or two F-35's to fund it several times over.

Probably cut 10 F35s and build a new one. Of course current politicians won't do anything that is bipartisan and generally forward thinking. Dems only want to spend money on social programs and Republicans only want to spend it on blowing brown people up. It's a sad state.

Re: Arecibo telescope, on the brink of collapse, will be dismantled

#250

Post by imroot »

I'm a Radio Astronomy Enthusiast.

I was at Big Ear the weekend before it was tore down, and it was what really prompted me to get into Radio Astronomy. It's what prompted me to visit Arecibo in the late 90's -- there wasn't much of a visitor's center, but, I was still able to get a tour by someone who was working that day.

I tried to get into OSU's Electrical Engineering Program (my mentor went there, and I had made a lot of friends through him), but, my military service made it impossible for me to find a path forward at OSU, and managed to go to a small private school's engineering school instead.

Radio Astronomy (and, broadcast/ham radio) really helped me shape my engineering prowess to who I am today.

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