For almost 60 years, the world’s most iconic radio telescope consisted of a 305-metre dish built into a natural sinkhole in Puerto Rico with a 900-tonne receiver suspended above. But on 1 December 2020, the receiver plummeted to the ground after its supporting cables snapped, destroying the dish.
The US National Science Foundation, which runs the facility, had long been aware of the ageing observatory’s shortcomings. Indeed, it had closed the observatory and announced plans to demolish it. But it also said that the huge cost of replacing it was too much for its already overstretched budget. There would be no new telescope at Arecibo.
That looked like the end of an international icon — the observatory having appeared in numerous films, such as Species, Contact and most famously the Goldeneye James Bond movie.
But now a grass roots team of staff at Arecibo, together with telescope users, have other ...
