Hello All,

A few days ago the iconic 1,000’ diameter Arecibo radio/radar telescope in Puerto Rico collapsed. It was in a precarious state, having had one of its antenna feed point carriage support cables snap a few months ago, tearing a hole in the dish below (this https://spaceflightnow.com/2020/12/...ep-space-radar/ article includes photographs of it before and after the collapse). The collapse was also caught on video (see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59WQIRvezzI ), from nearby on the ground *and* from a drone that was hovering just above the feed point carriage! Also:

Scott Manley posted both views in the video, and provided a step-by-step analysis of how the cables and towers progressively failed. He also mentioned that various parties want the telescope to be rebuilt. It should be, because—in addition to its radio astronomy and SETI uses—it served as an important Planetary Defense radar, discovering and providing precision tracking data on potentially hazardous NEOs (Near-Earth Objects), including radar imaging of particularly close-passing ones.

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Black Shire--Draft horse in human form, model rocketeer, occasional mystic, and writer, see:
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All of my book proceeds go to the Northcote Heavy Horse Centre www.northcotehorses.com.
NAR #54895 SR

If you want something like the Arecibo facility to work for a long tine, you also need to do the necessary maintenance to keep it up. I am surprised that there has not been more catastrophic collapses in recent years.

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'Til next time,

Mike Toelle

NAR 31692 L1

SAM 0373

We have the same problem here in Alaska (which, like the Arecibo radio/radar telescope, stems from under-funding)--"deferred maintenance," as it's called here. Some roads here in town might as well be dirt roads, being as rough and cracked as they are (ditto for some public buildings). It's penny-wise but pound-foolish, because it leads--usually sooner rather than later--in a need for total replacement, usually at greater cost than periodic maintenance.

__________________
Black Shire--Draft horse in human form, model rocketeer, occasional mystic, and writer, see:
http://www.lulu.com/content/paperba...an-form/8075185
http://www.lulu.com/product/cd/what...of-2%29/6122050
http://www.lulu.com/product/cd/what...of-2%29/6126511
All of my book proceeds go to the Northcote Heavy Horse Centre www.northcotehorses.com.
NAR #54895 SR

The winter weather conditions in Alaska as well as upstate New York make road maintenance really tough. That said, the dreaded "deferred maintenance" is a major cause of infrastructure deterioration.

__________________
'Til next time,

Mike Toelle

NAR 31692 L1

SAM 0373

Indeed--it accelerates the process that the first New England colonist farmers used to break up the large rocks in their fields, pastures, and groves; they poured water into cracks in the rocks, which split them into smaller fragments when the water froze and expanded during the frigid winter nights. The same thing happens to cracked roads (and to the surfaces of concrete buildings that aren't sealed with paint, plaster, etc.). I've read that the old--but still in use, including for ISS cargo and crew launches--R-7 launch pads at the Baikonur Cosmodrome are deteriorating from the same thing, which is called "concrete cancer," which results from deferred maintenance (at least their steel service towers are less wont to rust than those at the Cape, Wallops, and Vandenberg AFB, not being next to an ocean).

__________________
Black Shire--Draft horse in human form, model rocketeer, occasional mystic, and writer, see:
http://www.lulu.com/content/paperba...an-form/8075185
http://www.lulu.com/product/cd/what...of-2%29/6122050
http://www.lulu.com/product/cd/what...of-2%29/6126511
All of my book proceeds go to the Northcote Heavy Horse Centre www.northcotehorses.com.
NAR #54895 SR