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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

#31

Post by HarryHirsch »

dfsegoat wrote: post #20
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?

It would seem unlikely in PR given the state of infrastructure there. The hurricane destroyed a lot of the already failing power and port infrastructure, for instance. https://www.rollcall.com/2019/11/12/report-puerto-ricos-infr...

Back in the 1950s the US Government built a lot of space infrastructure in the South (Stennis, Redstone &c) to develop the backwards corners of the nation. There's no political will for that any longer, it seems.

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

#33

Post by kitd »

PopePompus wrote: post #23
beamatronic wrote: post #6

Is the same money (replacement cost) better spent on a space-based solution?

Nothing remotely similar to this has ever been built in space. This telescope is one of the very few which transmits radio waves as well as receiving them. The transmitters are used for radar mapping of solar system objects, as well as ionospheric research. Reproducing this instrument in space would probably cost as much as the ISS. It would be a Large Hadron Collider class investment.

The transmitters are also used for near-Earth asteroid detection. One would hope that capability isn't being abandoned.

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

#34

Post by kgin »

When I was 5 years old, I saw a pbs documentary about the Arecibo telescope. During a shot of a huge expanse of the telescope's metal, the narrator said something to the effect of "as one gets closer to the equator the sun's rays are stronger and the metal becomes too hot to touch". This, combined with the fact that I had a globe with a raised ridge around the equator, caused me to assume (for many years) that the equator was literally a metal ring that encircled the entire earth.

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

#35

Post by jcims »

Metacelsus wrote: post #11
beamatronic wrote: post #6

Is the same money (replacement cost) better spent on a space-based solution?

I don't think atmospheric absorption/scattering is as much of an issue for radio telescopes as it is for other kinds.

Ionosphere eats/reflects mostly everything below 10Mhz

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

#36

Post by pinewurst »

HarryHirsch wrote: post #31
dfsegoat wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It would seem unlikely in PR given the state of infrastructure there. The hurricane destroyed a lot of the already failing power and port infrastructure, for instance. https://www.rollcall.com/2019/11/12/report-puerto-ricos-infr...

Back in the 1950s the US Government built a lot of space infrastructure in the South (Stennis, Redstone &c) to develop the backwards corners of the nation. There's no political will for that any longer, it seems.

That was far more an artifact of the seniority of certain Southern senators on appropriations committees than any commitment to regional improvement. That seniority was a byproduct of (a) horribly racist voting practices keeping those seats long term in the same hands and (b) no competition.

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

#39

Post by Stubb »

gamegod wrote: post #32
IronRanger wrote: post #7

Is this a symbol of the degradation of human intellectual capability in the 21st century?

No, it's a reflection of the state of US infrastructure.

Which is also a symbol of the degradation of human intellectual capability in the 21st century. Certainly the ability to focus it toward advancing the understanding of the natural world.

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

#40

Post by bsg75 »

IronRanger wrote: post #7

Is this a symbol of the degradation of human intellectual capability in the 21st century?

It’s yet another symbol that we waste resources. Military and pork spending far outweigh the costs of things that could instead improve out quality of life (health) and the understanding of our universe.
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