The Arecibo Observatory is more than a historial landmark in Puerto Rico and a scientific hub with great contributions. “NSF begins planning for decommissioning of Arecibo”

It is with deepest of broken hearts that I post this. As National Geographic contributor (and daughter of one-time observatory director Frank Drake) Nadia Drake wrote Thursday, “ It’s game over.” On Thursday, it seemed the National Science Foundation agreed with these worries: The agency announced it would decommission the historic observatory, and plan for a demolition process that could eliminate the portions at risk of collapse while preserving as much of the structure as possible. Now, after engineers assessing the damage said it’s likely these breakages have increased strain on the remaining cables, and pointed to fraying strands on additional cables, scientists and others worried of the odds of an accelerating spiral of broken cables, which would cause the massive receiver to collapse onto the dish below and destroy the observatory beyond repair. One broken cable seemed like a fixable problem, but in early November a second cable broke. It fell into the dish below, leaving a trail of broken panels. But in August, a large cable-holding up one of three towers that help suspend the telescope’s 900-ton receiver platform above the collecting dish- slipped out of its socket. It has weathered hurricanes, earthquakes, and time itself. The astronomical observatory in Arecibo, Puerto Rico, has been standing since 1963.

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