The most famous radio telescope in the world, that of Arecibo, completely collapsed: a cable broke, causing one of the three towers that supported the 305-meter diameter telescope to collapse, causing damage to the dish and the surrounding structures.
They are not injured following the collapse.
The large radio telescope in Puerto Rico, famous for hunting for signals of extraterrestrial life, had just retired, precisely for safety reasons, by decision of the National Science Foundation (Nsf) of the United States, which manages it together with the University of Central Florida.
Engineers are working to assess the stability of the observatory's other structures.
Main priorities are maintaining site security and conducting a comprehensive damage assessment.
The telescope was a fundamental part of the structure, but the observatory also has other scientific and educational infrastructures that the NSF foundation aims to bring back into operation as soon as possible.
"We are saddened by this situation, but grateful that no one was hurt," said NSF director Sethuraman Panchanathan.
"When the engineers informed us - he added - that the structure was unstable and represented a danger to the staff, we took their warnings seriously".
The goal, he concluded, "is now to assess the damage, find ways to restore the operations of the observatory's other facilities and work to continue supporting the scientific community."
Last August one of the telescope cables unexpectedly came off.
According to calculations, the remaining cables would have had to carry the load while engineers and technicians worked to repair the damage.
However, a second cable broke on November 6, indicating that other cables were also likely weaker than expected, which led to the facility closing.
