Arecibo's demise and possible rebuild.

[TommyJ]

Hmm, your reasoning that there were often miscalculations with finances reminded me that we live in a capitalist world. And now there are very few fans who can afford a project that will never pay off. Projects like Arecibo are now only needed for enthusiasts and scientists. Anything that doesn't pay off will be rejected. Unless there will be some politics in this again.

[xilman]

Its not just finances.

In every project which is non-trivial (and many trivial ones too) the first 80% of the work takes 20% of the time. The final 20% of the work takes the remaining 80% of the time.

[Uncwilly]

Originally Posted by TommyJ

Projects like Arecibo are now only needed for enthusiasts and scientists.

There are good reasons to have site(s) like Arecibo for national and international interests for financial reasons. Having the ability to use radar to better fix the position of potentially hazardous asteroids. PHAs can have a high financial impact on the world. And since their exact position (down to errors of less than 10 km) is important to know their future course, and thus potential impact on earth, it is a wise investment to get accurate data, so that action can be taken to avoid impacts.

[Nick]

Such dishes also get used for tracking satellites - both your own and other people's.

[TommyJ]

Originally Posted by Uncwilly

There are good reasons to have site(s) like Arecibo for national and international interests for financial reasons. Having the ability to use radar to better fix the position of potentially hazardous asteroids. PHAs can have a high financial impact on the world. And since their exact position (down to errors of less than 10 km) is important to know their future course, and thus potential impact on earth, it is a wise investment to get accurate data, so that action can be taken to avoid impacts.

As I understand it, you are talking about telescopes like WISE. Most of which are still located in space. I understand the benefits of a radio telescope.
Yet the placement of such an object on Earth makes it somewhat limited in the search for something that is approaching the planet.
There don't seem to be many benefits.

[Uncwilly]

Arecibo had RADAR capability. That gives a range to the PHA. That helps to fix the orbit far more accurately than imaging can. WISE, the B612 planned craft, and even the big optical surveys coming are great for finding things. But to get the orbit dialed in, (and also the size), RADAR is best.

[Stargate38]

Also, they were searching for aliens (SETI). We need a replacement telescope.

Off-topic: Why is TommyJ banned? I don't see anything wrong with his posts.

[retina]

Originally Posted by Stargate38

Off-topic: Why is TommyJ banned? I don't see anything wrong with his posts.

Some posts have been removed.

[Uncwilly]

Originally Posted by Stargate38

Also, they were searching for aliens (SETI). We need a replacement telescope.

Off-topic: Why is TommyJ banned? I don't see anything wrong with his posts.

Originally Posted by retina

Some posts have been removed.

He posted what was deemed to a spam like post. It was removed. Then he posted the same message again after that. There were some other clues that were noted.


And back on topic:
I heard that the v2.0 telescope should be called Arecidos. Dos as in 2 en español.

[kladner]

Originally Posted by Uncwilly

US National Science Foundation has released video of the collapse happening.
https://www.nsf.gov/news/special_reports/arecibo/

Stunning! It's one thing to see stills. Seeing the sequence of breaks, with broken towers, really drives home the scale.

[Dr Sardonicus]

I see this hasn't been mentioned in this thread, so here's one of the last official acts of the outgoing Governor of Puerto Rico (the new Governor took office January 2, 2021).

In a story dated December 29, 2020, 8 million approved to rebuild the Arecibo Observatory Telescope

Puerto Rico Governor Wanda Vázquez Garced signed yesterday an executive order allocating $8 million to rebuild the Arecibo Observatory that collapsed December 1.

Vázquez Garced also declared the observatory site a historic zone.

The executive order states that the reconstruction of the Arecibo Observatory radio telescope is "a matter of public policy".

"The government of Puerto Rico is convinced that the collapse of the radio telescope brings a great opportunity to redesign it taking into consideration the lessons learned and the recommendations from the scientific community to make it relevant for decades," said Vázquez Garced, through La Fortaleza’s official website.

She said the $8 million should cover the removal and disposal of debris and the design of the new radio telescope.