Guest essay by Eric Worrall
According to The Register, after two recent cable failures the 900 ton platform suspended above the gigantic Arecibo radio telescope in Puerto Rico is literally hanging by a thread. Fraying has been observed in the other cables. Engineers are refusing to certify whether the remaining cables can hold the central platform.
America’s largest radio telescope close to collapse as engineers race to fix fraying cables
900-ton receiver platform threatens to plummet into dish below
Katyanna Quach Tue 17 Nov 2020 // 15:37 UTCSHARE
The remaining cables supporting a 900-ton platform hanging over America’s largest radio telescope are struggling to take the load, threatening the 1,000-ft wide reflector dish.
The Arecibo Observatory instrument, located in a national forest in Puerto Rico, was the largest radio telescope of its kind in the world until 2016 when the Chinese built a bigger one. Now the US installation’s future hangs in the balance as engineers attempt to reinforce the structure after one of the cables holding up the overhead platform fell away and tore a 100-ft-long gash in the telescope’s dish below.
…
Some of the wires in the platform’s remaining cables are already fraying, and if they snap, the structure holding the telescope’s receiver will come tumbling down with disastrous results, according to the University of Central Florida, which operates the observatory.
…
Read more: https://www.theregister.com/2020/11/17/arecibo_telescope_warning/
The University of Central Florida received a record $204 million in grants this year. Lets all hope the university’s Radio Astronomy group convince administrators to give them a little love in time to save their telescope.
Discover more from Watts Up With That?
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Two questions:
1. Why does the headline say it’s the USA’s largest radio telescope when it’s in Puerto Rico?
2. Why does the main dish look so astoundingly badly maintained?
3. Does the thing still work? (bonus question)
Puerto Rico is a territory of the US.
That’s three questions but #1 has been answered.
#2 The discoloration on the dish surface has no effect on the functioning of the telescope.
#3 Yes, the telescope was in operation on the morning when the first cable slipped out of its socket.
Griff and his buddies are clearly winning.
“after two recent cable failures the 900 ton platform suspended above the gigantic Arecibo radio telescope in Puerto Rico is literally hanging by a thread.”
Not really.
It’s not a real thread. Just a literal one. Figuratively speaking, that is.
i have some interestings details on that you would want, check out the Subject combination for Mechanical Engineering from my site. you can also check out this link for more interested details.
If the link above is not working, use the ones below:
https://naijschools.com/most-in-demand-engineering-jobs-in-nigeria/
https://naijschools.com/jamb-and-waec-subject-combination-for-mechanical-engineering/
It seems to me that this is when a gender-fluid, person of color with a disability who feels threatened by intolerance in the astronomy community would be most useful. I’m told they’re the most important excluded members of all scientific communities.
Just one of ’em could repair all damage and make pigs fly up and re-string the supports with a wave of their hand… if their physical disability left them with a hand, or the use of it.
Or so I’m told.
The decision to shut down and demolish Arecibo has been announced.
Confirmed:
https://www.space.com/arecibo-observatory-radio-telescope-to-be-destroyed?fbclid=IwAR2O_6DDKzKA0EdHU0mEXCrQtek-n4HGN8hGZLUOLc7_DSYVes0oeTg3uTA
It was the fight between 007 and 006 in Goldeneye that weakened the structure. You can’t fire PP7’s and AK’s at a structure like that and expect it to last. Plus, 007 put a steel bar in the gears. Another example of government fraud and waste.
It’s in Porta Rico, the Socialist sh!tHole. What do you mean it’s falling apart? Who cares, one less thing PR has to offer the world. At least they still have their crime, poverty and rich politicians.
Maybe they should start by looking for Intelligent life on earth FIRST!!!
Do they ever say exactly how dehumidification is done, what a dehumidification system consists of, how it works, etc.? I didn’t read every word, but scanned the doc a couple of times and searched for “dehumidification” twice, reading the text before and after each occurrence. Maybe I missed it, but didn’t see anything that explains it. I’m very interested in cable-related topics and would like to understand the details of the process.
Dehumidification dramatically increases the life and decreases the maintenance cost of virtually all types of materials and equipment.
However it must be quite difficult to apply it to these wires since they must be enclosed in an airtight containment for a dehumidifier to work.