Ralph Gaume, director of NSF’s Division of Astronomical Sciences, also stated, “Until these assessments came in, our question was not if the observatory should be repaired but how. But in the end, a preponderance of data showed that we simply could not do this safely. And that is a line we cannot cross.”
Scientists made major discoveries using the Arecibo telescope
The Arecibo telescope is the second largest in the world. It has a radio reflector dish measuring 1,000-foot (305-meter) in diameter. The reflector dish consists of 40,000, 3 foot by 6-foot aluminum panels.
The Puerto Rico-based Arecibo Observatory with its giant space telescope has been the scene of some major discoveries since it was built in 1963. It is a well-known tourist attraction in the Caribbean where it’s located.
The asteroid Bennu was first discovered by this powerful telescope. In 1974, Arecibo sent out a Search for Extraterrestrial Life (SETI) message aimed at a star cluster 21,000 light-years away. The binary code broadcast described humans, DNA, and our solar system. It is expected to reach its target in 25 millennia.
