What Really Happened at the Arecibo Telescope?

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On the morning of December 1st, 2020, one of the most iconic astronomical instruments in the world collapsed. The Arecibo Telescope was not only one of the largest radio telescopes in the world, it was also a fascinating problem in structural engineering. Its loss was felt across the world. This video provides a quick lesson on radio telescopes, a summary of the failure, and some discussion about the engineering lessons learned in the wake of the event. I hope that eventually, they can replace the telescope with an instrument as futuristic and forward-looking as the Arecibo telescope was when first conceived. It was an ambitious and inspiring structure, and we sure will miss it.
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19 июл 2021

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Комментарии : 10 тыс.

@PracticalEngineeringChannel 2 года назад

🚧 When was the first time you heard of Arecibo? 👷 Check out my coverage of other engineering events: ru-vid.com/group/PLTZM4MrZKfW_kLNg2HZxzCBEF-2AuR_vP

@elll300 2 года назад

i first saw it from James bond as a kid, I always liked the idea of going to see it but what a shame.

@danacoleman4007 2 года назад

probably on an X-Files episode

@gus473 2 года назад

We learned about it from "The Weekly Reader" newsletter we got in elementary school! (So maybe the same year President Kennedy was assassinated?) Favorite view of El Radar 📡 (and New Mexico's Very Large Array) is in the movie "Contact!" ✌🏼😎

@Borikwine 2 года назад

I was born in Puerto Rico and I have been in the observatory many times, every science class from almost every school in PR made field trips year around to the site. It was sad to see the demise of the Arecibo observatory but years of poorly funded maintenance and tropical weather took a toll on a technological and architectural beauty like the Arecibo observatory. Thanks for the video, I am not an engineer but I truly enjoy your videos as they explain in layperson terms a lot of the “magic” of building and construction.

@pj-tt6vi 2 года назад

X-files season 2 premiere

@shooplah4745 2 года назад

BF4 Players be like: Ya bud, it’s called levolution and it’s a part of the map.

@robinenbernhard 2 года назад

Some guy with C4 and poor sniper in top

@mccrystalkai1002 2 года назад

You made my day, thank you

@la_treta 2 года назад

Good times

@tollieman5750 2 года назад

New bf5 looking great so far

@arkangel6281 2 года назад

I am just amazed how accurately the developers from Bf4 got this right with the levolution.

@calvinjudy5994 2 года назад

The engineers who established the safe zones, and recommended the structure be demolished so that they wouldn't risk lives on futile attempts to save it, should be honored. They very likely saved numerous lives with their assessment and education.

@AyCe 2 года назад

You only get recognition if you act after a catastrophe, preventative measures are usually ignored. People don't value what they can't immediately see.

@ZNotFound 2 года назад

@@BS-cz6tw Your name is accurate.

@Llortnerof 2 года назад

@@BS-cz6tw Failed at what? They got it exactly right. There was no practical way of retaining the structure. Preventing people from getting injured was the best anybody could have done at that point.

@antiseth3964 2 года назад

Yeah sometimes as engineers and scientists you just have to know when to quit. It’s clear that someone not only said it, but that they acted on it and created the safe zones while supervising close observation of the structure. Catching that failure of the cables close up on a drone is insanely lucky.

@jeffstanley4593 2 года назад

Not only that but they recommended destruction instead of bilking millions of dollars for an impossible repair. This is very rare these days.

@lunawenko9324 6 месяцев назад

I first saw this telescope in Goldeneye, thinking it was just a made-up set to have some cool base for the villain. When I learned that it actually is a real place, I was instantly fascinated and interested in the structure

@captricharddee3634 4 месяца назад

For England James. Buy me a pint.

@mavez6322 4 месяца назад

@@captricharddee3634 No.... for me.

@michaelrmurphy2734 4 месяца назад

Guinness or Kilkenny?

@lunawenko9324 4 месяца назад

@@michaelrmurphy2734 Guinness

@The_BIG_salad 2 месяца назад

@@michaelrmurphy2734 Blatz

@marli01 2 года назад

Puerto Rican here. I did multiple field trips to the "Radio telescopio de Arecibo" as we called it. One with my school and one with my family just for fun. It was norml to go admire it since it meant so much to us. Even today, if you mention it to a Puerto Rican from the island we think of it with sadness. When it fell it was all anyone could think about. We really did lose an icon.

@bronks76 Год назад

What is going on now with it,will it be rebuilt?

@marli01 Год назад

@@bronks76 So far there had been discussions about rebuilding but no actual plans are set. Only budget has been discussed to remove the debris. The station is still being used to study space but they don't have their main instrument.

@bronks76 Год назад

@@marli01 What I have seen the damages are not too big,in that case shouldn't be difficult to repair,only good will.

@a.c.4054 Год назад

@@bronks76 rebuild for what? It was obsolete and there are plenty of instruments that do a much better job than it did.

@matthewhayes6806 11 месяцев назад

As a gringo mid western man myself I'll tell you that it hurt me as well. My girlfriend is native Puerto Rican and moved and i went to Carolina San Juan. I spent time with the family and then on our vacation west to the farthest of PR. I wish we visited. Holds a lot to me at least. At least a youngling. It's a beautiful place.

@chickendrawsdogs3343 2 года назад

The engineers saw it coming and took safety measures, that's extremely commendable.

@sirfer6969 2 года назад

Yeah they saw it coming, but nobody did anything about it. Shame on the people that allowed this to happen. F'n losers.

@aemrt5745 2 года назад

@@sirfer6969 Did you watch the video? They could not repair it without an extreme risk to the crews involved. They did not think there was sufficient margin in the cable system after the initial cable failures and recommended a controlled demolition. The engineers absolutely made the right call. And these are not the people who caused the lack of funds that caused the issue. That was determined by administrative politics. Given what happened, if the construction work began it would have likely pushed the structure to failure with potentially fatal results. Armchair engineers would then say they should have anticipated the collapse and it was too dangerous to repair.

@_Wai_Wai_ 2 года назад

they saw it coming probably because they knew NASA/NSF budget has been cut.

@_Wai_Wai_ 2 года назад

@@aemrt5745 Well, if they didn't let the telescope deteriorate to this state, it might not have been too dangerous to repair. When you have USA spending $750 Billion a year for military expansion, and neglecting roads, and science research, this is what happens. Oh BTW, the James Webb telescope launch has been delayed to til December. Once it launches can they guarantee it will be without flaws? I remember the Hubble Telescope that was launched decades ago, they then found a major flaw in the main mirror and had to spend $$'s to fix the flaw. typical of American Aerospace.....

@aemrt5745 2 года назад

@@_Wai_Wai_ LOL. Typical American Aerospace invented the airplane, created commercial air travel, supersonic flight, devloped rocketry, landed men on the moon, sent probes to all the planets, created satellite communication, GPS, weather satellites, materials technology, faster computers, digital imaging, etc etc. So yeah, I am VERY proud of our Aerospace industry and very proud to have worked in it. Your standard of living would be lower without it. And pushing the frontier carries risk, as any engineering endeavor does. I am proud and happy to be in a nation that is bold and takes risk.

@crispay8304 2 года назад

“What really happened?” Simple, a Recon player over the course of 10 minutes placed and demolished each of the supporting wires using his C4

@jaekamacho1416 2 года назад

"i understood that reference!" 👌🏼😁

@aaronkough3810 2 года назад

Glad i wasnt the only one who thought of BF4 here

@guineapig1133 2 года назад

Yep

@tickytock2853 2 года назад

I thought this was literally a battlefield real life documentary when I clicked on it

@stickiedmin6508 2 года назад

"C what?" Are you talking about Jeep Stuff?

@auntiejen5376 Год назад

I remember seeing news of the collapse. At the time, I thought it had just been allowed to deteriorate because it was obsolete. I'm both gratified and sad to know that was not the case.

@jovetj 3 месяца назад

Yeah, I thought I generally knew the whole story of its collapse, too.

@effortlessproductions 8 месяцев назад

I respect that they decided to keep the crews’ safety in mind as the top priority, that’s very commendable

@russell-di8js 2 месяца назад

That report they made probably saved lives & definitely saved $$$s, & probably under all sorts of pressure themselves. A great piece of independent engineering work & well appreciated i hope!!

@SomeoneCommenting 2 года назад

You have to admit that this was one of the luckiest drone inspections in history. They were right there, at the right moment, pointing the cameras in the precise point of failure. This is precious footage for investigations and to show how this kind of failure happens in real life.

@HyperMario64 2 года назад

While this is fortunate, they heard the cables breaking which is why they were remotely inspecting the terminations at the first place.

@DevinEMILE 2 года назад

That last cable really tried hard to hold it. Second one went as soon as it got more weight, that last one had some fight in it

@halseytaylor9522 2 года назад

Absolutely. This footage may become as common in university engineering programs as the film of the Tacoma Narrows bridge.

@M1911jln 2 года назад

The cables were making loud noises as they failed, which prompted the staff to launch the drone. So it wasn't just luck.

@catc8927 2 года назад

@@badpaw Wow, go take your conspiracy theories elsewhere.

@silverhammer8464 2 года назад

It's really crazy how accurate the DICE team was at recreating it and even the damage after the receiver fell in game

@ClassicalGamerYT. 2 года назад

2 days late goddamn as soon as i saw this vid i thought bf4 rogue trabsmission

@gamingpero11 2 года назад

Bro BF4 was made in 2014

@silverhammer8464 2 года назад

@@gamingpero11 that's my point, almost like dice predicted it

@gamingpero11 2 года назад

@@silverhammer8464 ye

@jackleadbetter2987 2 года назад

thats the first thing i thought of when i seen this lmao

@kermitefrog64 Год назад

I have been to Arecibo twice. There were a number of objects including comets that were studied. It was very impressive.

@j.w.grayson6937 8 месяцев назад

In early 2000's I was involved in the SETI project, thus I was well aware of Arecibo. When we visited PR for a cruise arond 2015, we went in a few days early and took a tour of the facility. It was very impressive!

@GammaCatch 2 года назад

-"For England, James?" -"No, for Me."

@Pronoodleeater126 2 года назад

Based comment

@deathdealer312 2 года назад

Best comment

@gamingcouplelife559 2 года назад

Lol, yeah, that's the first thing I thought of too 🤣

@SnabbKassa 2 года назад

You nicked my joke lol

@iamjakeystyley 2 года назад

I had to scroll way too long for this comment 😎🤌

@malvoliosf 2 года назад

From Grady’s description of the situation, the question in my mind is not “why did it fall?” but “how on Earth did it stay up as long as it did?” Low safety margins, unique design, constant exposure to salt air and tropical sun, frequent hurricanes, and in at least one case, shoddy workmanship. It seems that receiver was staying up there mostly from force of habit.

@NAUT758 2 года назад

😂its almost like curiosity rover. Its kept getting saved by random events working years after it was expected. Edit: opportunity rover

@ADAMJWAITE 2 года назад

As I understand it from watching other videos on the subject, one thing Grady didn't touch on was that adding the additional scientific instruments to the suspended structure added significant weight and stresses to the original infrastructure that over time, may have contributed to the collapse.

@malvoliosf 2 года назад

@@ADAMJWAITE reminds me of the Asimov story “Shah Guido G.”

@ps.2 2 года назад

@@ADAMJWAITE Yeah he did, 5:35

@NAUT758 2 года назад

@@ADAMJWAITE he did talk about it

@TheCtrumbo Год назад

I’ve been fascinated with the structure since Golden Eye. Sad to see go, awesome it was captured on film at the moment of failure.

@yonason6047 Год назад

I was surprised and disappointed when it happened, but was unable to find info on why it had or if there were plans to rebuild. You’ve not only supplied that, but provided backstory as well. Interesting how satisfying a thorough analysis of an event like this can be. Even more satisfying to hear that lives were not wasted by taking unacceptable risks. Very nicely done video. Thanks.

@snafubar447 2 года назад

"These steel cables were installed 70 years ago, they are perfectly safe." As someone who worked in preventative maintenance for a decade, I don't trust anything that hasn't had a major inspection or overhaul after X amount of hours, let alone DECADES.

@vg2b713 2 года назад

The Brooklyn Bridge and other old cabled bridges are still standing.

@LKN117 2 года назад

@@vg2b713 The Brooklyn Bridge has had major structural repairs done in the last 5 years or so. Arecibo had not had anything of the sort in a far longer time frame. That's also not taking any of the environmental stresses taken by each structure or their intended uses into account. You are comparing apples to oranges.

@vg2b713 2 года назад

@@LKN117 Just saying that the dish cables were under-designed.

@johndododoe1411 2 года назад

@@LKN117 Consider the number of decades between construction and maintenance on the Brooklyn bridge, that's still a lot. But Arecibo replacement should be designed with a significant safety factor and a regime to completely lower the platform for inspection and maintenance more than once per year.

@TigerOscar78 2 года назад

Every man made structure needs maintenance, period!

@SeekerKnight 2 года назад

As a child of the 50s, this facility was a scientific icon. A source of national pride. It was every bit as important as the space race in those respects. Such a shame to see it meet such a tragic end.

@Oliviaheckel 2 года назад

It even went beyond national pride for some. As a Mexican kid, I remembered feeling pride in humanity learning about it. Space science has been among the best ambassadors and goodwill creators for US interests around the world since the 50s.

@jesusjesus534 2 года назад

Well as a Puerto Rican. This facility filled me with pride. That my country Puerto Rico was home to this telescope.

@SeekerKnight 2 года назад

@@jesusjesus534 It was definitely a super installation at the time!

@zzztriplezzz5264 2 года назад

@@jesusjesus534 fellow Puerto Rican I know you are proud, but don’t call Puerto Rico a country. It isn’t!

@yanne-pierre4624 2 года назад

@@zzztriplezzz5264 and what is it

@graemeroberts2935 Год назад

Your commentary is so precise and scrupulously honest, Grady. Your values are in themselves a great inspiration and example to up and coming engineers. Thank you!

@csApollo11 Год назад

Ever since I watched the movie Contact when I was in middle school back in 2002, I wanted to visit here. 20 years later, now it's gone. I had 20 years, but I wasted. Sadness, would be an understatement. Now, I must go see the VLA.

@Syamzaf 2 года назад

Battlefield players: "Hey ive seen this one, ive seen this one its a classic!"

@greenkoopa 2 года назад

Yeah it's the last level from Goldeneye 😀

@NerfDaPig 2 года назад

I thought this instantly, but at least I know where the map came from now

@radtap 2 года назад

The dish map on bf4 is set in 2020 aswell lmfao

@random71856 2 года назад

Bit of rogue transmission

@ShroudedWolf51 2 года назад

@The Monster Under Your Bed "People aren't allowed to enjoy things I don't!"

@RyanRiopel 2 года назад

In the late 2000s I was running SETI@Home, processing data from this telescope. I thought it was the coolest thing as a kid. Sad that this happened. Edit: I found in my e-mails that I joined 15 October 2006!

@mrxmry3264 2 года назад

yeah, i crunched numbers for SETI too. first it was a standalone project, then it switched over to BOINC. i stopped crunching numbers when i hit a million points.

@NathanielHatley 2 года назад

Me too.

@1contrarian 2 года назад

Same here. I eventually moved to Folding@Home.

@mrxmry3264 2 года назад

@@1contrarian i did some folding too, but when they found the covid vaccines, i stopped that too.

@lnteIIigence 2 года назад

I was experimenting with different condiments to mix with tuna instead of mayo. Ketchup is a maybe.

@Hummingbirdaerial Год назад

After a previous visit to the island, we finally had the opportunity to visit the observatory in February 2020. It was amazing and I was able to get drone footage of the structure. That might have been some of the last footage obtained before its collapse. Little did I know at the time that that would be the last time I would see it. Very glad I did.

@c-bass9968 2 года назад

We in Puerto Rico knew it was scheduled to be closed and possibly demolished so we were working on pushing through a rescue plan just before the earthquake hit that is speculated to have caused the wires to fail. Ever since 2020, Puerto Rico has been experiencing violent earthquakes which, although mostly confined to the south, did occur on multiple occasions in our north coast precisely above the municipality of Arecibo. I remember when the news came out that day, there were reports of an earthquake in the north. I just hope that for the sake of my island we can rebuild/reuse that space for scientific research.

@unformedeight 2 года назад

Goldeneye people are very aware of this place "For england james?" "No, for me"

@thewrathofforce1147 2 года назад

Lol

@L_e_o 2 года назад

That's how I came to this video, wanting to visit the place from goldeneye. Unfortunately won't be possible now

@Redstagwsmnp 2 года назад

Bond, James Bond

@Darkoriax17 2 года назад

I was just about to ask “isn’t this the antenna cradle from Goldeneye? …that scene was about the most brutal I ever saw 007. Alec had screwed him over one too many times and he was like “screw the mission, I just want you dead.” Hence the line you mentioned. Alec was trying to taunt him and be like “finishing the mission like a good little lapdog?” “No, I just want you dead” The way his face went from a taunting smirk to a look of terror further illustrates that this was a very rare side of Bond, one who takes a personal vendetta over the mission. He realized his folly too late, and thus Janus was finished.

@megabolt5898 2 года назад

I was hoping I'd find at least 1 Goldeneye comment here~

@mattmullett9521 2 года назад

Well if I learned one thing, its that cable dehumidification systems exist.

@nateb4630 2 года назад

They're common in communications cables, both twisted-pair (outdoor telephone lines) and coax (radio broadcast towers). A dry-nitrogen supply, or an air-compressor-dehumidifier, will be regulated to a low pressure that's routed into the cable's interstitial space, to ensure that any cracks in the jacket result in air leaking out, rather than water leaking in. The cable pressurization gas almost always goes through a flow meter on the way, and flow readings are regularly taken as part of maintenance, to assess jacket condition.

@danielmcnulty8736 2 года назад

@@nateb4630 I had absolutely no idea. Every time I learn something like this, I come to the conclusion that there was more to know that I’m capable of knowing. And that there is more out there than I had any idea how complicated the world is. So damn cool.

@jmr-marc 2 года назад

humidity in the forest is present continiously

@Danoliveira3 2 года назад

Tom scott has a great video on it

@Tracomaster 2 года назад

Tom Scott has a video on that called "how to stop a colossal bridge from corroding"

@LuisMorales-bp3sx 2 года назад

My dad lived right in Arecibo... In a barrio called Esperanza. It was literally right by the coffee shop thats like 2 miles from the entrance of the observatory.. Had amazing times. Thanks for the great memories and thanks for this awesome video @practicalengineering. 💪🏾🇵🇷

@jamescox7007 Год назад

Once again you explain difficult engineering concepts so the many armchair engineers can understand what actually happaned. My hats off to you my friend. I have tried to explain some of my work to my wife but fail because of technical jargon. You have a unique gift and should become a collage / university professor.

@theshevanel 2 года назад

It took long enough, but James Bond finally destroyed the Goldeneye.

@greenyawgmoth 2 года назад

I AM INVINCIBLE!

@emperorfaiz 2 года назад

For England, James?

@lamar5429 2 года назад

😂😂😂😂😂

@Gogettor 2 года назад

Should rename it to Cradle.

@Kiwiherm 2 года назад

Finally a comment that encompassed what I though when I saw this video

@dvoicer6785 2 года назад

Man, props to the engineers who got those excellent shots of the telescope failing. I mean, it's sad and all, but at least the shots are really cool, because we get to see it failing it really great detail.

@LillaVya 2 года назад

I'm sure that footage will help them to know what happened!

@paulmichaelfreedman8334 2 года назад

The drone footage was a stroke of luck really, as they were evaluating the remaining cables.

@aerodynamicist4 2 года назад

I suspect the air turbulence from the presence of the drone was the final straw for those cables

@owenkegg5608 2 года назад

@@aerodynamicist4 This is satire, right? (Sorry, hard to tell)

@GradeEhCanadian 2 года назад

@@owenkegg5608 wow alot of slow people here today

@Glen.Danielsen Год назад

Brother Hillhouse, thank you for a thorough, incisive, and fascinating narrative! Worth the time start to finish!

@lezleefeetsgoddess Год назад

This was a fascinating and fantastic video. Luv your videos and thanks for making them. Such a shame to lose this great telescope.

@LucyKosaki 2 года назад

That one time where the only available footage wasn't recorded by a toaster : D

@DxBlack 2 года назад

Flying sky-toaster in HD :(

@Carolina-Mary 2 года назад

But if alien ships zapped the cables with their anti earth telescope ray guns it would most certainly have been recorded by a toaster.

@noobplayer_23 2 года назад

2 actually in full HD

@ericv00 2 года назад

*potato

@davidt1d 2 года назад

@@ericv00 *toaster

@WyvernApalis 2 года назад

Engineers: you'll need to demolish it Arceibo: YOU'LL NEVER TAKE ME ALIVE!

@mememan7515 2 года назад

@buzzynut 2 года назад

"Hold my beer..."

@pedrofellipe8028 2 года назад

You can't fire me, I quit!

@abe_linc02 2 года назад

Onjijio m.oo n

@desertsolopsism 2 года назад

😂😂

@frederickhalgedahl8725 Месяц назад

Hi Grady. Thanks so much for this clear and concise run down on the engineering behind Arecibo. I'm in my 70s and ever since I was a boy I've been inspired by this structure. I was saddened by its demise and in a very real way devastated by its collapse. Your clear-eyed appreciation for the facility and its important work over the years is greatly appreciated. I've driven by the VLA, and even that fleeting glimpse was impressive. And, of course, there are larger radio telescopes, such as the ALMA on the high plain of the Atacama Desert in Chile. But-China's larger facility aside-Arecibo's unique size and natural setting will always serve as an important statement about humankind's irrepressible curiosity. My thanks again for making this video. FH

@mr.wiskers8163 2 года назад

engineers: I wonder why our structure failed. Battlefield 4 players: ‘sweating profusely'

@TrudeaisaWEFpuppet 2 года назад

Yea pretty sure it was my bad. Crashed my jet into it

@2handsome2die 2 года назад

Turns out this jeep stuff works on cables, too.

@MarcGyverIt 2 года назад

I was thinking the same thing lol

@qxTorii 2 года назад

_whistling while holding my RPG_

@alicorn3924 2 года назад

Well on BF2042 there is a launch site that we might be able to blow up.

@HermanHiebert 2 года назад

Sounds like a success story. They saw it coming, and nobody got hurt.

@JainZar1 2 года назад

This. It is a stark contrast to the overblown media coverage we got when the telescope collapsed.

@daebak7370 2 года назад

We are fighting against purveyors of massive lies misinformation and manipulation of the highest order. Freemasons control every sector of society. New world order led by obama and pope francis is coming. Jesus christ is coming back for the rapture. Get ready. Dont believe the coming ufo alien abduction narrative

@JainZar1 2 года назад

@@daebak7370 Also Ferrero is a front company for the Grey Ones, why else would they produce "Tic Tac's", way before humanity became aware of the UAPs?

@uzijn 2 года назад

@@daebak7370 What's the UFO alien abduction narrative?

@inparis5724 2 года назад

@@daebak7370 go nuts brother, I work for the CIA and im watching you right now. Wave!

@cartersmith6628 Год назад

Even though the loss of the structure was great it’s good to hear that the safety concerns of the people that would be working on it took priority

@michaelhirschbuhl1823 Год назад

These videos are always so well researched and presented!!!

@thecatofnineswords 2 года назад

Built in the early 1960s, survived until 2020, that's almost 60 years of service. For a structure built without computer modelling, that's a good life. I commend the engineers who built it. I commend the science it brought to us. The learning! and lastly, commendations to the engineers who decreed it to unsafe to repair, for it was. Vale, Arecibo. You did well.

@StonyRC 2 года назад

The Cat of Nine Swords - VERY well phrased. The structure was an outstanding success.

@Abrdoks 2 года назад

Union Suspension Bridge (1820) is still functioning, but hey, I salute the heroes who were too scared to get near a telescope to repair it.

@SeveralBirbs 2 года назад

@@Abrdoks would you rather they risk their life?

@Sasasala386 2 года назад

@@Abrdoks Dumbest comment of the week. You think this is a movie kid?

@Abrdoks 2 года назад

@@Sasasala386 Yes, a movie called "A Bug's Life".

@mimiwey9014 2 года назад

As a Puerto Rican, I went to the Arecibo Telescope on a High School trip, it broke my heart when it collapsed :(

@hectormelendez7196 2 года назад

Well, I've visited many times and every single one of them was getting worse. It was a matter of time and human hand to bring it down.

@colspiracy8326 2 года назад

Aw that's so sad. What was the name of your high school? 😉

@royeb63 2 года назад

As a non-Puerto Rican I never got the chance to visit it, but it still broke my heart when it collapsed. I hope they build a new and better one at the site.

@vettemuziekjes 2 года назад

and what did you learn on this schooltrip ?

@colspiracy8326 2 года назад

@@vettemuziekjes she learnt that it was in the film 'Contact'.

@phitzwellthundercock3894 Год назад

I was fortunate enough to have visited this incredible telescope. It’s really hard to comprehend just how massive it really was by watching vids on it. It was one of those moments when you see it from the observatory platform that amazes what humanity can build, breathtaking. Such a shame they let go out like this. 😢

@seanriopel3132 Год назад

I spent 10 minutes watching the failure happen frame by frame (that's the < and > keys when your paused by the way). It is amazing watching a single strand go, then two more, then BAM. the whole cable. The tower sways from the release of lateral tension then the next cable begins to fail. Absolutely amazing. A tragedy no doubt but still stunning that a drone happened to be in the air at the exact moment of failure.

@Alex-Lay 2 года назад

I wish that closer to the collapse someone had mentioned that the towers were named for their position on a clock. I'd never heard the naming until now, so it always seemed odd to hear 'tower 4'

@owensmith7530 2 года назад

Yes, I remember thinking at the time "hang on a minute, there are only 3, what do you mean 'tower 4'?!"

@a735Alexis 2 года назад

i would of been so frustrated to hear " tower 4 failed" while being certain there were only 3. real gaslighting lmao

@ErickC 2 года назад

@@a735Alexis : THERE - ARE - THREE - TOWERS!

@owensmith7530 2 года назад

@@a735Alexis The three towers are numbered 4, 8 and 12 for their positions on a clock face.

@a735Alexis 2 года назад

@@owensmith7530 you are dense

@lucasalvarez8524 2 года назад

The only thing *more* incredible than the ingenuity and scale of the Arecibo Telescope, is that this video didn't once reference Golden Eye. Well done, sir.

@leopineda6198 2 года назад

Nor Contact!

@zackh5413 2 года назад

1v1 cradle slappers only

@derrickhappytree 2 года назад

@@zackh5413 🤚💢 😆

@jesuslovesyou-mattsmith1502 2 года назад

@@zackh5413 took me a minute but great comment!

@tateranus4365 2 года назад

Or battlefield.

@JWMCMLXXX Год назад

At this super famous facility a drone was directly looking at the exact point of failure as it happened- and had the awareness to turn around and catch the rest of the event in real time. What a world.

@michaelmello42 4 месяца назад

What an outstanding video with loads of engineering detail! I plan to show portions of it in my Statics & Mechanics of Materials course, for example, the discussion of the catenary equation starting at 8:50.

@markchisholm2657 2 года назад

In the offshore construction industry we test every year all wire ropes and discard every five years regardless of cost. Factor of safety is between 4 and 8x depending on use. It would be inconceivable to have wire ropes in use this long.

@ctdieselnut 2 года назад

This video is proof of why that's a good idea. What else is still being used in your life from 1963?

@pinpetos 2 года назад

@@ctdieselnut I have a toaster from around that era. Oh wait, the power cable has been replaced 😄

@markchisholm2657 2 года назад

@@ctdieselnut Thing is that it's known that all wire ropes fail. The speed of failure is dependent upon use but it's an absolute cast iron guarantee that at some point they fail and if they are not pressure greased and move then the lifespan is short.

@Pyxis10 2 года назад

@@ctdieselnut I have a few utensils from before that era. Then again, they're utensils. Kind of hard to break those.

@Jehty21 2 года назад

Now I wonder how often the ropes on bridges get replaced, if at all.

@Valgrind850 2 года назад

Can’t believe the news barely covered this, if at all

@MylesMartinez 2 года назад

Well, the coof and the election were kinda taking up America's collective attention bandwidth.

@matthewmillar3804 2 года назад

No kidding. I had no idea it collapsed.

@bapt_andthebasses 2 года назад

Dude there's a high killing virus going on!!!

@QuantumRads 2 года назад

@@bapt_andthebasses Lol you watch too much of the news. It has like a 98% recovery rate.

@bapt_andthebasses 2 года назад

@@QuantumRads i was being ironic 😂

@henrywit6147 Год назад

Awesome video. Extremely informative. I do hope plans are made to rebuild at some point, with modern technologies obviously.

@brianpesci Год назад

Very informative, seeing the graphs that showed the kips of load/stress brought back bad memories of my statics and strength of materials class.

@andvil01 2 года назад

Todays words are: redundancy and safety factor. Don't you ever forget them.

@HambertHM 2 года назад

You cannot rely only on safety factor and redundancy when both of those characteristics can be affected over time due to corrosion and other incidents. They are very dynamic over time, difficult to predict and modelate, and that is the problem here.

@BeingMe23 2 года назад

@@HambertHM If they rebuild it. They need to use galvanized cable and do yearly inspections.

@mrl22222 2 года назад

also consider design life. I doubt the military specified a design life of over 50 years, Design life plays heavily into material and assembly decisions all along hte line. Although "maintenance" can extend the life of just about anything, it won't last forever. concrete and steel designed for 50 years may last to 60, but probebly not 70...

@lachlanhudson7404 2 года назад

@@mrl22222 funny you give that 50 year mark saying that with proper maintenance, keeping it til 60 is quite likely... most of the US's original infrastructure during the highway boom was designed for that 50 year mark and here we are approaching that 70 years xD

@D00000T 2 года назад

@@HambertHM today’s additional phrase is: responsible maintenance

@jonathanbr7_ 2 года назад

The video of the collapse was heartbreaking..

@stabileseitenlage 2 года назад

Just imagine maintaining this Telescope for decades and then when everything is going south, while looking for a way to get it back on track, you are watching it fail in real time through a drone, from just meters away. I bet he felt his stomach drop, as soon as he saw the additional cable snap.

@michaelmccarthy4615 2 года назад

Its sad, but they all knew it was failing... its life span was approaching

@MikeHarris1984 2 года назад

It was so hard to watch knowing that there is a TON of data and knowledge (yet to be discovered) crashing down with it for so many years to come.

@calholli 2 года назад

It was built in the 60's... It was time for it to go.

@ninadsbhatt100 2 года назад

It was amazing luck, though

@sonjasleeper1511 Год назад

Always interesting stuff, helps me learn more about how things work

@jimbaker4931 2 года назад

Great engineering based presentation. I’m looking forward to more practical Engineering!

@dethrophes7283 2 года назад

Given it was built 70 years ago for an immediate military need and lasted for 70 years... I'd say the margin of safety was fine. If anything the issue was one of up keep and maintenance.

@danfr 2 года назад

Agreed, the "trying for years to divert funds" was probably the beginning of Arecibo's end. You can't maintain something if the funds you need to maintain it are being scraped away. I don't really blame them for trying to divert funds though. The real blame probably lies in how criminally underfunded scientific organizations are. They're one of the first things to get cuts despite often providing a lot of value for what funds you do put in.

@x--. 2 года назад

@@danfr I like your point -- it also shows why it's so important for engineers, designers, administrators and whoever else is getting paid to look after our equipment to *be honest* about the state of things. I can't help but feeling that _someone_ knew how little margin there was and should have warned what would happen.

@jackt6595 2 года назад

Yeah the main cables should have been replaced at some point. Or at least one of them taken off the examine how they were holding up.

@CIubDuck 2 года назад

This is much like NASAs probes and satellites, they over-engineer them and tell us they won't last for long. They give us a "disappointing" estimated lifetime of like 15 years, but 40 years later they are still perfectly functional and operational. I love that the engineers gives a low lifetime guarantee, just so that they can surprise us later how much longer they actually lasted because of their amazing engineering.

@dekonfrost7 2 года назад

We have better ways now, of doing what it did.

@miguelsoto1840 2 года назад

I'm from Puerto Rico and have lived here since l was born, l went on a school trip to the radio telescope and it was the most amazing experience ever, thank you for making this video in honor of this masterpiece of engineering. It was very sad and depressive when it collapsed🥺💔.

@John-jc3ty 2 года назад

you broke it omg

@robsonwilianwinchester9726 2 года назад

My condolences to continental American's and Americans from Isla of Puerto Rico.

@fallendown8828 2 года назад

RIP big mirror thing

@jamesnewcomer4939 2 года назад

The saddest part is that the U.S. is no longer the kind of country to REBUILD such a valuable asset!

@Allan_aka_RocKITEman 2 года назад

@Miguel Soto >>> FWIW: I used to be in the US Coast Guard. I deployed to USCG Air Station Borinquen a few times, and actually flew over the dish a couple of times while there. I -- and others with me -- wanted to visit Arecibo, but we never had enough spare time to do it. I retired from the USCG in 2003, but I STILL would have loved to return to P.R. to visit the site. Too late now...😞

@JackClayton123 Год назад

Always enjoy these videos!

@robschlotterbeck2566 Год назад

The people in PR don’t work, as they told me when I was a manager there “this is paradise, no one is in a hurry!” Nothing about the maintenance shocks me. I was building cellular phone sites there and was shocked at how bad the existing towers were.

@xDeadMedic 2 года назад

13:00 He mentions how the chipped paint indicates strand failure, and a great display of that is at 13:17 when the nearest cable absolutely shreds all of its paint in a matter of seconds as the cable unravels.

@johnsmith1474 2 года назад

Which itself is a sign of other underlying problems namely improper maintenance. As you have seen for instance on a car, the paint on properly prepped metal does not flake off in for instance an accident. A proper paint coating for this safety application would be paint that bonds completely to the substrate, ie a bonding rust preventative metal primer that could not possibly "flake off" with a proper waterproof top coat. This flaking material looks like water based latex paint which of course encourages rust. Typical PR low quality work and bad inspection processes.

@michaelhawthorne8696 2 года назад

That drone couldn't have been in a better place. This footage reveals so much of a catastrophic event you could ever want.....The support towers move so much too.

@Musikur 2 года назад

It's actually a shame that they turn in around, we miss the gantry falling, and because of the turn also miss the tower collapsing

@dandanthedandan7558 2 года назад

@@Musikur I'd want to see the center of the telescope more than the tower falling

@MartinAston00 4 месяца назад

LOVE THIS CHANNEL ! ..most I know find it weird, but I absolutely love these deep dives👍

@kjamison5951 10 месяцев назад

Thanks, Grady! It would be fitting to rebuild this facility to modern standards with a different type of detector but I have read the site will be redesigned to be a leading edge STEM facility.

@christheother9088 2 года назад

A guy tried to get me to climb a 30 foot light duty ladder ( I was heavier than the recommended maximum weight ) - he cited the "safety factor" should allow me to safely use it. I refused.

@soaringvulture 2 года назад

I wouldn't climb a 30-foot ladder under any conditions, safety factor or not.

@christheother9088 2 года назад

@@soaringvulture I ended up buying a heavy duty one that weighed alot - but once you got it set up it was like a staircase.

@brad885 2 года назад

@@soaringvulture I do it every day. With the proper tie offs it's quite safe.

@Markle2k 2 года назад

@@brad885 Not with me on it. My legs start shaking about 15 feet up if I'm not on a platform. My fear of heights is more a fear of losing control and falling. Standing on the rim of the Grand Canyon, or an observation floor in a tall building, or even in a light aircraft thousands of feet over the ground, no problem. Also, since I got a concussion after I got hit by a car, I get vertigo easily.

@johnsmith1474 2 года назад

Sounds like your heart attack risk exceeds your ladder risk.

@Piracanto 2 года назад

Having lived in Puerto Rico, and having been to this observatory several times with my infant daughter when I was there, I really felt sad when I leaned this happened. Truly a sad tragedy.

@toordog1753 2 года назад

Nothing happened, it was done intentionally. I dont understand where this guy gets his information, my office literally set up screens and watched the count down to cable burn...

@Piracanto 2 года назад

@@toordog1753 He says he got the information from the forensic report.... Where could we find reliable information?

@owensmith7530 2 года назад

@@toordog1753 There was no cable burn, they were still trying to work out how to safely demolish it when it collapsed by itself.

@borghorsa1902 2 года назад

Puerto Rico should invest into their own science and don't rely on other countries. That's the only way a proud culture can be born

@owensmith7530 2 года назад

@@borghorsa1902 Puerta Rico is too small to fund something world beating like Arecibo. It's like suggesting the UK fund it's own manned lunar landing, it's way beyond what can be afforded.

@brahm-ahamasmi Год назад

Brady is a magician. He can write epics on scientific topics. His non-hyperbolic genuine jargon keeps his storytelling interesting. So much to learn from him for all Science teachers

@austinevplab7167 Год назад

I alway knew *of it* but now I know *_about it_* What incredible videos of the collapse! Thank you for a great job.

@krystal_vector5412 2 года назад

My mother grew up on the island and we were heartbroken when it collapsed, it was built before she was born so all she’s ever known was that telescope always being there. I was lucky enough to go and see the dish many years ago when we were visiting the island. There isn’t a single picture that fully captures how massive it was. A true marvel of engineering, an invaluable scientific tool, and a cultural icon. You will be missed.

@JanTuts 2 года назад

Wait, what? The dish was made of aluminium plates on steel cables, suspended over the valley?! For some reason, I always though it was concrete, built directly on the valley floor!

@sergeysmirnov1062 2 года назад

Me as well, yeah, was stunned when I found out back then.

@derrickhappytree 2 года назад

Yeah seriously when Alec Trevelyan landed on it in Goldeneye it was solid

@frollard 2 года назад

derek has it - definitely Goldeneye screwed up that belief :)

@psansoucy 2 года назад

The dish was originally a series of suspended cables, far above the ground below - 100 feet or more. The plates were added to the cables years after I was there in 1968.

@RNCHFND 2 года назад

@@psansoucy Like a net?

@hectorperezphotographer 2 месяца назад

Great video. Had the chance to visit the site a couple of times before its demise.

@glitchy_weasel Год назад

Arecibo has definitely an icon of Puerto Rico, despite not being so popular in later years. Fantastic video!

@JamesChurchill3 2 года назад

What really happened is James Bond dropped the centre section on Alec Trevelyan

@kylo_ben 2 года назад

Damn. You got there first

@cefb8923 2 года назад

Cradle to the grave. Sad way to kill off Ned Stark.

@mickles1975 2 года назад

Damn it. I was going to say that.

@hwykng82 2 года назад

For England James?

@carlsberg-gs6rl 2 года назад

@@hwykng82 For me

@raemckay 2 года назад

Images of Arecibo Observatory were included on the Voyager probe “Golden Records”. Carl Sagan mused that the records would long outlive us and our civilization, and seeing the structure crumble really brought that home for me.

@brahmburgers 7 месяцев назад

very good assessment, thanks for the video and narration.

@albertschepis Год назад

Very interesting. I did not know the structure collapsed until seeing this video today. I do like how "Practical Engineering" presents things.

@typryor2227 2 года назад

It’s not every day you get to see such a catastrophic failure from such a large structure.

@WellCookedPotatoes 2 года назад

Laughs in BF4

@starstencahl8985 2 года назад

@@WellCookedPotatoes In real life

@ilovefunnyamv2nd 2 года назад

@@WellCookedPotatoes yeah you're laughing, but like starsten said, real life. This is a structure so large its difficult to contemplate, a 3 football fields wide diameter dish. This is nothing like building something with TnT in minecraft

@WooferCooker 2 года назад

Laughs in Florida condo

@Stripdancer100 2 года назад

Ty Pryor Look for "Stadium roof collapse kills worker in Russia", it's a tragically epic scene

@smokie3248 2 года назад

As someone who regularly pours sockets for my job, I really appreciate the attention to details in this video. I want to share this with my crew, this is a great teaching tool to the importance of following procedures every single time. Great work!

@liesdamnlies3372 2 года назад

Hope you did. Screw-up or get lazy on critical infrastructure and people die.

@JWRay-xh9wl 2 года назад

Yeah,brother don't I know it,you don't follow procedures that keep you alive,well....

@honda0303031 2 года назад

You don’t pour nuthin

@smokie3248 2 года назад

There’s always one! So, what do you do for a living?

@honda0303031 2 года назад

@@smokie3248 just a joke buddy. I actually do rigging. Been rigging for over 18 years. Poured many spelter sockets building mast raising lines. Biggest we were able to do was 2-1/4”.

@CapoEL21 2 месяца назад

Fascinating... It's a failure of humanity how this was allowed to happen. Thankfully, no one lost their lives. The engineers examining this phenomenon are amazing

@hasnoname4815 Год назад

Thank you for covering this; I lived close to the telescope and got to visit before it went down.

@needamuffin 2 года назад

That drone footage is amazing and terrifying. The energy involved in the snap is clear and its destructive potential for anything in its way must've been unheard of. It's fascinating, and I imagine extremely helpful, to have such clear footage of such a catastrophic failure.

@arader17 2 года назад

I thought it was really interesting how when the cable snaps it sheds all of the paint in an instant.

@rapidrabbit7175 2 года назад

This is where Rice Crispys got their sound effects.

@stephenhurd1489 2 года назад

Almost like they needed evidence.... Hmm

@aemrt5745 2 года назад

Steel cable are extremely dangerous and demand respect. Even small load applications (such as car winches) can be lethal if the cable snaps. Regular inspections are a must and always anticipate where it may move if it fails and stay clear of that area. There is tremendous potential energy under load.

@derchozenvun83 2 года назад

Divine intervention.

@monkeyvittles 2 года назад

In engineering, failures are often just as important as successes. It's reassuring to see that this is being investigated so thoroughly. Hopefully we learn a lot about what happened, and apply that in the future.

@michaelramos2121 2 года назад

Corruption and bad maintenance is what happened.

@mattlogue1300 2 года назад

Mike, it was so unexpected I have a feeling it could of been sabotage.

@ianchandley 2 года назад

We are only as good as our last failure……. No matter how many risks we identify or know about, there will always be something that has never been imagined.

@ivonneriveraalswager4865 Год назад

And Who will pay...Cornell Uni. or Puerto Rico?

@ivonneriveraalswager4865 Год назад

@@michaelramos2121 Agreed Bad maintance! nothing last 4 ever.

@user-tb5mt6bb9b 7 месяцев назад

Just discovered the loss. A wonderful friend, also gone, worked on that project. Two sad losses for me.

@jonf5593 Год назад

“For England James?” “No…for me”

@SonakaG 2 года назад

"The Jewel of Puerto Rico" Oh how it hurts my heart to see it break. Thank god no one got hurt in the collapse. As a Puerto Rican who grew up on the Island and visited the place during a middle school field trip, I never thought this would ever happen, from up close it just looks so perfectly designed and sturdy, a testament to the Puerto Rican spirit. man... my heart goes out to all the researchers there, may god bless them, and hopefully we can recreate her, but stronger and better equipped for our harsh weather.

@G30RG303 2 года назад

Puerto Rican here as well. And i basically feel a you do as someone who went there in elementary or middle school.. it is heart breaking to see such a beautiful structure fall. I'm hoping to be alive if they do something with that place.

@elnolde754 2 года назад

The Engineers: "We sadly must recommend to disassemble the Telescope" The Telescope:" I'll do it my way"

@Deeds_of_Love 2 года назад

You can't kill me if I kill myself!

@cece3194 2 года назад

@@Deeds_of_Love Guess it showed them. The final picture.

@ballsackfart 2 года назад

@@cece3194 it left us with the beautiful battlefield 4 map and a huge area for sick skateboard tricks

@lalruatfela3394 2 года назад

*plays Frank Sinatra's "My Way"

@elnolde754 2 года назад

@@lalruatfela3394 Yeah that was intended

@archangel1221 2 месяца назад

The fact that it could emit (work as a radar) was amazing. It was crucial in mapping asteroids and other near earth orbit items.

@chrisrussell7758 Год назад

I was lucky enough to know a man that was an engineer of sorts on this project, he was awesome

@straightfaceguy7966 2 года назад

57 years is a good innings for that telescope, you need to remember when it was "rushed" to track incoming nukes longevity wasnt on the cards.

@Musikur 2 года назад

Probably the reason for the low structural margins as described

@spugintrntl 2 года назад

Exactly what I was thinking.

@huntergman8338 2 года назад

Like any other government project.

@BloodPshyco73 2 года назад

I find it a little impressive it lasted for 57 years considering

@Dhairyasd 2 года назад

The most mind boggling aspect of this collapse is that they got a freaking 4K HD footage of the whole collapse 🤯

@TheTuttle99 2 года назад

@Sven3xs lollllllll

@AvengerII 2 года назад

@@TheTuttle99 The funny part is that he thinks his rant was rational. Someone forgot to listen to their paxil!

@blahblah8037 2 года назад

@Sven3xs don’t just say do research on the dates and times relating to other events. Show them. If it’s so obvious tell us. This is the issue with real conspiracy theorist. When you ask for even a shread of information it’s just a bunch of mouth breathing and stop being a sheep and do the research

@TrolladinPlays 2 года назад

@Sven3xs take your meds

@jimbochungus 2 года назад

@Sven3xs based

@jgurka2105 Год назад

Fascinating and very clear - thanks.

@Frserthegreenengine Год назад

If you listen very carefully after the telescope collapses you can hear a lone voice shouting "Yes! I am invincible!"

@nustada 2 года назад

The engineers being cautious here should be recognized, they saved lives.

@zulumike3228 2 года назад

People talking bout BF when the true OGs know this was popularized by Goldeneye.

@Dr.KarlowTheOctoling 2 года назад

I’d say, I *remember* this from Goldeneye, and I *know* about this from BF.

@JustJesseOfficial 2 года назад

James Bond throwing the dude off the top while that camper with the tank is shooting the wires 😎

@Dr.KarlowTheOctoling 2 года назад

@@JustJesseOfficial James bond doing it in 144p

@andrewfern7625 2 года назад

Thank you

@deniseubaldo7781 2 года назад

@@JustJesseOfficial 8

@michaelcoursey8614 2 года назад

Thanks for clarifying this situation.🤔

@luisangeldrosnegron3445 Год назад

Ty for this informative video I learned alot.

@omahanprabla3058 2 года назад

As a Puerto Rican who could see the telescope from my backyard, thank you so much for making this video. I'm pretty sad how this installation went down. The time and passion you put into your videos is incredible, I feel like I'm in class learning something new.

@ZearthGJL 2 года назад

"This enraged every engineer,, but by this point, Arecibo already fell, so they sort of let it go."

@fscaram6900 2 года назад

Love your videos!

@googlreviews7813 2 года назад

Wow, what a shame. I too hope that they will replace the telescope with new one and that the facility will continue to operate. Great video,thank you for sharing, I had no idea this even existed.