The Iconic Arecibo Radio Telescope collapse

The Arecibo Observatory collapsed due to the structural failures that it presented months ago, according to the meteorologist Ada Monzón reported today.

Deborah Martorell, also a meteorologist, indicated that the observatory platform had detached .

The National Science Foundation of the United States reported on November 19 that the Arecibo Observatory telescope would be dismantled precisely because of the risk of collapse, a decision that Governor Wanda Vázquez had asked to reconsider.

In a review of engineering evaluations, they found that the damage could not be stabilized without risk to construction workers and facility personnel.

Multiple analyzes by independent engineering companies found that the telescope’s structure was in “danger of catastrophic failure” and that its cables were no longer capable of supporting the loads for which they were designed.

The first failure of the auxiliary cables was reported at the beginning of August, when the Central University of Florida – the institution that administers the Observatory – announced that this problem would render it inoperative.

According to the university, one of the cables that helps support a metal platform above the Observatory broke on August 10, causing a 100-foot-long cut in the telescope’s reflector plate . When the three-inch cable fell, it also damaged about six to eight panels on the Gregorian Dome and twisted the platform used to access the dome. Another cable broke over time.

The Arecibo Observatory served for 57 years as a world-class resource for research in radio astronomy, planetariums, solar systems, and geospaces.