Following the tragedy that caused the sad (but spectacular) crash of the Arecibo Observatory telescope earlier this month in Puerto Rico, a plan to reconstruct one of the world’s most recognized deep space research instruments appears.
From Puerto Rico The new day The news shows that Puerto Rican Governor Wanda Vázquez Garced has signed an executive order setting aside $ 8 million for the reconstruction of the huge single-antenna radio telescope. The order also provides for the removal of debris from the December 1 crash and designates the telescope site as a “historic area”, according to the report.
Captured in dramatic images with drones, the 900-tonne platform of the observatory, suspended 150 meters above the giant 305-meter vessel, gave way on December 1 when several support cables broke, causing the platform to fall to the surface of the vessel. From lower. The observatory had been closed since August due to an initial cable clamp. This previous unhappiness led to an investigation and subsequently plans for a controlled demolition; an operator has never had a chance to perform.
Owned by the US National Science Foundation (NSF), the Arecibo Observatory became operational in 1963 and, for nearly 60 years, collected radio data used to make a variety of observations that included the world’s first evidence of the existence of exoplanets. . The telescope has also become an integral part of NASA’s search for objects near Earth.
In his order, Vázquez Garced said the $ 8 million would be used to fund the removal of debris for the wrecked telescope, as well as the design of a new radio telescope to replace it. This leaves funding to build a real replacement – a much more expensive proposal than $ 8 million – a matter of future budgetary priorities from the NSF, which receives its research grants from Congress.
For next year, Congressional funding for the NSF now depends on the fate of the $ 1.4 trillion spending bill that President Donald Trump recently signed – with a number of new provisions – before returning to Congress to be sent back. Science reports that NSF’s share of the funds included in the bill comes with a request for the agency to submit plans for the site. “In particular, lawmakers want to know how the NSF will decide whether to build a new observatory and the estimated cost of such a facility,” the report said.