Second Cable Breaks at Puerto Rico's Arecibo Telescope (sciencemag.org) 17
The already battered Arecibo Observatory was hit with another blow on 7 November when one of its 12 main support cables snapped and tore through the radio telescope's main dish. From a report: The incident comes just 3 months after the failure of another cable. Researchers are concerned that increasing stresses on remaining cables could lead to cascading failures and the collapse of the antenna platform that is suspended over the dish. "It's not a pretty picture," says Joanna Rankin, a radio astronomer at the University of Vermont. "This is damn serious." It is "without a doubt" the worst accident to befall the observatory in its long history, says former Director Donald Campbell, now at Cornell University. The nearly 60-year-old telescope, built into a depression in the hills of Puerto Rico, is still prized by researchers. Its huge 307-meter dish -- the largest in the world until overtaken by China's Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope in 2016 -- makes it very sensitive. And it is one of just a few telescopes with the ability not just to receive radio waves, but also emit them, in the form of radar beams -- which helps researchers track nearby asteroids that could threaten Earth.
The observatory suffered damage when Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico in 2017. Repairs were continuing in August when a 13-centimeter-thick auxiliary cable, one of six strung between three support towers and the suspended antenna platform, detached from its socket on the platform. The auxiliary cables were added in 1994 to cope with the extra weight of new antennas added in an upgrade. Last month, the University of Central Florida (UCF), which leads a consortium managing the observatory, applied for $10.5 million for emergency repairs from Arecibo's owners, the National Science Foundation (NSF). The latest break -- at 7:39 p.m. local time on a Friday evening -- was in one of the 9-centimeter-thick main support cables. Four such cables run from each of the support towers to the 900-ton platform. Both failed cables were attached to the same tower, so the remaining cables are under significant extra stress. "The forces become scary," says former Arecibo Director Robert Kerr.
The observatory suffered damage when Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico in 2017. Repairs were continuing in August when a 13-centimeter-thick auxiliary cable, one of six strung between three support towers and the suspended antenna platform, detached from its socket on the platform. The auxiliary cables were added in 1994 to cope with the extra weight of new antennas added in an upgrade. Last month, the University of Central Florida (UCF), which leads a consortium managing the observatory, applied for $10.5 million for emergency repairs from Arecibo's owners, the National Science Foundation (NSF). The latest break -- at 7:39 p.m. local time on a Friday evening -- was in one of the 9-centimeter-thick main support cables. Four such cables run from each of the support towers to the 900-ton platform. Both failed cables were attached to the same tower, so the remaining cables are under significant extra stress. "The forces become scary," says former Arecibo Director Robert Kerr.
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I'm still here, hooray? (Score:2)
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I'm as old as it is and I still have all my cables intact.
You still have your umbilical!?
Its a waste of money (Score:1, Troll)
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It's gonna put an eye out.
No it's valuable (Score:1)
Saying "Something critical to my research is about to be destroyed" translates to
"I use the thing for my critical research, yet I'm not willing to give a small part of my research department's budget to save the thing".
When you ask for donations for research purposes, you never ever want to actually sacrifice your own money, salary or department budget to further your job and career.
NSF is funded by the us taxpayers who says that this telescope gets priority over finding a Covid vaccine?
Welfare for the scie
At least do an emergency repair to buy some time (Score:5, Insightful)
If NSF was really "very supportive" then the money for at least stabilizing the thing would already be there - installing some extra cables. The fact that that hasn't happened is the sign that they really don't care if it goes.
NSF should loan money to fix and be paid back (Score:1)
by user fees.
Simple solution. If they really really need it, they will be willing to self fund the fix.
Wire rope whip is a solved problem. (Score:5, Interesting)
Bare cables whip when they break (as any off-roader, rigger or crane operator knows) but those controlling valuable equipment could be dampened with (for example) lighter non-load bearing cable wrapped round them or otherwise connected at multiple points to restrain broken cable. The typical off-road method is using a damper like a jacket or sand bag. Something more appropriate could be easily installed, and old cable replaced.
Wire rope is a solved problem. If must be protected from corrosion so any sheath if used should be ventilated and not interfere with inspection.
Adding many more cables would make sense. Wire rope isn't expensive so no cable should be close to overload. Adding cable to protect what's left of the antenna could be done by bolted or welded attach points.
maintenance matters (Score:1)
The chief difference between the third world and the first world is proper maintenance.