The National Science Foundation of the United States reported on its Twitter account the unfortunate event: the instrument platform of the 305-meter telescope at the Arecibo Observatory collapsed overnight. A cable supporting the 900-ton platform snapped, causing the massive structure to collapse more than 100 meters to the ground.
Until recently it was the largest radio telescope in the world.
The Arecibo Observatory is famous for detecting rotating pulsars, capturing geological features of Mars, and helping astronomers discover the near-Earth asteroid Bennu, among other astronomical landmarks for more than half a century. Also, as a curiosity, he had a stellar appearance in the 1995 James Bond film GoldenEye.
Arecibo had endured hurricanes, tropical humidity and a recent series of earthquakes in its 57 years in operation , but it has been mechanical failures that have cornered it forever.
Arecibo had a small budget from NASA that helped it continue its activities but in 2016 the NSF proposed to dismantle it and reported that they would reduce their funds as the years went by.
It was inaugurated in 1963 and in 2020, the Arecibo telescope has been turned off forever.
