This is a fantastic tribute to such a magnificent telescope. It didn't deserve it's fate, and it's a damn shame it wasn't given the budget it should have had.
HONORING IT? They IGNORED IT. They were supposed to be doing the maintenance but didn't. because they didn't do the required maintenance they were paid to do, it fell into disrepair and then collapsed.
@@tarstarkusz i think they're saying the creator did a good job honoring it... the person who made this video wasn't responsible for the maintenance...
@@tarstarkusz my mistake then...it seemed you were questioning the op's praise of the creator's video honoring the telescope...by pointing out that it was neglected. which just didn't make sense to me since creator of video wasn't responsible for the maintenance..
I'm 67 so Arecibo was a lifelong companion for me. I was fortunate enough to have watched, on black and white TV, all of the early launches at the birth of the "Space Race". Losing Arecibo is as much a loss to me as Neil Armstrong of any of my heroes of that time. Pioneers!
Thank you for presenting this soulful video. So much loss! This year has been too full of loss and I needed no more evidence. I too, did not want to see the video of the telescope's destruction, but was caught off guard by the sounds of the wind and the snapping cable as the receiver unit crashed into the bowl. I was across the room and couldn't see what was happening, but the sounds of destruction were unmistakable and once heard, I had to see its fall. I can't say that I've gained any greater insight into the sadness I feel because of viewing it, but I appreciated the closure your film has brought in its presentation of the story, and in your summation of the entire tangled mess in its destructiveness and the stories related hopes and dreams of those who's lives were touched and imaginations sparked by this fantastic creation.
Thank you so much for this! This was so well-presented and emotional, a touching eulogy for a magical place. I truly hope they can build something new and amazing at the site, the people of Puerto Rico deserve it!
Very sad news this was.. when I’d first learned of its demise, as yet one more catastrophic blow to the people’s of Puerto Rico, the many folks within the vast array of scientific/astrophysics communities globally, and us general logical thinkers globally, was quite the dagger blow to the heart. This video does a great job at piecing together as much overall historical and, modern information of this machines’ technological assistance to all of humanity, in our never ending, ceaseless endeavors to evolve our species to our next chapter. It MUST get rebuilt! State of the art, combined with its overall original flare & design, wherever applicable, for all to continue to learn from our cosmos. A MUST!
Rebuild the Arecibo bigger, better and more marvelous than even before. The facilities for research are already in place, let's rebuild it folks and make it better.
What Leila knows like no other is how to follow up with how the quest for scientific discovery gains meaning to and through the people who dream of it, work and live for it. Count me in for the journey.
Arecibo was a 8th wonder for me. It was one of the places must see , now too late. Don't wait , go to another country or any mountain and enjoy the world. If you have a person that ruins you vacations - Leave them out . it's a big world take the first step and don't stop . China?
This technology has to have been upgraded and consolidated into a smaller, more powerful system by now...like most all tech. I have high hopes for better days ahead for your observatory and its destiny.
Great channel! Came here because I watched the video on the co-evolution of viruses and eukaryotic life. That was an enthralling script, I take it you wrote that?
"The telescope was damaged by Hurricane Maria in 2017 and was affected by earthquakes in 2019 and 2020. Two cable breaks, one in August 2020 and a second in November 2020, threatened the structural integrity of the support structure for the suspended platform and damaged the dish. Due to uncertainty over the remaining strength of the other cables supporting the suspended structure, and the risk of collapse owing to further failures making repairs dangerous, the NSF announced on November 19, 2020, that the telescope would be decommissioned and dismantled."
@@PaulaBean I still think the Center was too heavy, next time , would be better to make a 6 point suspension and anti-seismic materials and structure, and cushioned with Sorbothane duckduckgo.com/?q=sorbothane&t=newext&atb=v248-1&ia=web Used today on hanging bridges between Steal and Concrete, works great
@@PaulaBean They will, this was a known event for sometime, because scientists and engineers analyzed it probably and there are currently plans and calling to make a better one, so it's all good. Its contribution to Science was unique, it's needed, so it'll be rebuilt, as it should
@@saultube44 Yes I agree with you, Arecibo Telescope was such a landmark and advancement in science, it could even transmit radar signals to Venus and asteroids to measure their distance and trajectory. No other radio telescope on Earth can do that at the moment (I think). However I'm not sure if it will be restored because radio telescopy nowadays is done with multiple small dishes in an interferometry setup, and one big dish doesn't fit into that picture anymore :-(
Ok who forgot to check the worn out cables during all the inspection times? Why could they not replace the old ones with new ones and add 1-2 more anchors to it ?? Seems logical to me doing it in steps would have cost a lot less money then clean up and rebuild. Unless the owner had a super mega insurance policy to cash in !!! 🤔
you do realize when people say these guys are billionaires that is only if they sell their companies. they don't actually have billions in the bank. also Musks mission is way more impressive than looking at space he is going there.
Stranded here due to references from other channels on this platform. Due to the writing of yours. Due to what guides me in the nights. Arecibo is something I can understand, feel (in a way..) - Spitzer is not. SOHO is not. PLANCK, Herschel, WISE and WMAP I could understand, but not feel. As mentioned in your delivery, I learned about Arecibo due to "Contact" (the Hollywood story), which is still unsolved due to two facts outlined there: (1) if 95 % of us believe in a god, how can you be / talk / communicate? (2) Isn't it obvious, that something like this ripping of steel MUST occure some day? Yes, I dream of a supernova in my lifetime, a "star in the daylight"; but: do such dreams shutter my view onto reality? It's much much more probably that an earth-bound device gets damaged than some sophisticated space-thing on Lagrange-X or so... Anyway, I like those people you were talking to - it's pure pleasure to know that they exist and have feelings, that they care for something, and try to give words to this peculiar 'caring'. I'm sure its worth it, but - - - is it? Why? Education? Morals? What are you writing for?
So sad it self-destructed. Sending a signal into space, it istill close. Only 50 light years away. We have been sending signalsince the first oceanic telegraph and radio transmission since the 1890's?
why did they let it collapse? they could have maintained it. Reinforced it. Replaced the cables. built new towers to support it. why did they allow it to callapse?
What kind of physicists are these that they couldnt even detect that their suspensions were on the verge of collapse? Isnt that what physics is about in the first place?
Hey I have a good idea. Let's build a very big dish in the jungle and use moving parts and cables. We will put a bunch of beatniks and hippies in charge and pay them a bunch of money to look for aliens. It should last a long time and even withstand heat, humidity, hurricanes and corrupt government. Perfect location, don't you think?
I have an even better idea, let's build it, and put a bunch of scientists in charge, but then let's fund a wall we're pretending Mexico is supposed to pay for instead!
Remember that all the fools singing the praise of this site were tasked with maintaining the site and instead of maintaining the site., blew that money and didn't do the maintenance. Critical maintenance was ignored for YEARS. That is why it failed. It wasn't unexpected. They CAUSED it.
Sorry but that’s simply not true. I think I’d consider the continuing exploration of the universe, the planets in our solar system, and the monitoring of asteroids that could potentially wipe out life on earth a ‘scientific achievement’. All that work continued until the telescopes final days, and will continue with its data for years to come.
I'm pretty sure classifying 2020 NK1 happened in 2020. It's kinda in the name. But also, did you *watch* the video, where Drs Ghosh and Salter discuss finding methanamine? Articles about that seem to be written in 2008, which I believe is after '74.
@@tranlangamingo5409 if you don't count radar astronomy, or planetary science, and are just interested in radio astronomy, the methanamine still counts; Dr Salter was the head of radio astronomy, it has very little to do with NASA, it's NSF funded primarily (the asteroids are NASA-related) 1992- first extrasolar planets. Discovery of the first repeating fast radio burst. And those are just the headlines, not the everyday crunch and mapping.
@Something Incredible why do you fail to mention that China has FAST 500M Spherical radio Telescope exist and can do the kind of radio astronomy you speak of? Are you racist like some commenters here?
FAST doesn't do the same work as the Arecibo Observatory could. FAST is bigger, but it has different areas of focus and limitations; I don't think it needs to take up the same space as AO, we can have more than one big radio dish in the world, and FAST is definitely bigger!
You have NOT PRESENTED a convincing argument why it should be rebuilt... high schoolers and feel gooders do not merit 500 million dollars (or more) to remake it
Thanks for your comment - I'm sorry that you feel that way, but this was never intended to be a pitch for a new telescope, merely a celebration of the old one. But in my opinion, $500 million (or more) would be a small price to pay for the next half-century of science.
@@SomethingIncredible I'd posit that a big science operation in the spanish speaking area of the Americas (like Chile also) has some merit .. notice the Latinos have a poor to non existent record of science discoveries
Unfortunately they just don’t have the domestic budget for their own independent facilities to rival those of the US. But there are plenty of Latino scientists contributing to incredible discoveries.
Le poche cose buone che l'umanita` riesce a realizare abbandonate a se stesse un vero peccato che nessuna Nazione si sia preoccupata di salvare questo prezioso monumento astronomico mondiale.😪😪