Broken cable smashes hole in giant ‘Contact’ radio telescope that searches for aliens
- Scientists worldwide use the telescope at Puerto Rico’s Arecibo Observatory to detect radio emissions emitted by objects such as stars and galaxies
- It was featured in the Jodie Foster film ‘Contact’ and the James Bond movie ‘GoldenEye’
One of the world’s most prominent astronomical observatories has a hole.
On Monday, a thick cable at the Arecibo Observatory broke, tearing a gash 30 metres long in the reflector dish of the 20-acre radio telescope in Puerto Rico.
The observatory had just reopened after a temporary closure due to Tropical Storm Isaias when the cable, which helped support a metal platform, snapped. Now the facility is closed again as engineers assess the damage, according to the University of Central Florida, a cooperator of the telescope.
It was not immediately clear how the cable broke or whether the damage was related to Isaias.
Astronomers use the telescope to study hazardous asteroids as they fly past Earth, in hopes of identifying space rocks on a collusion course early enough to intervene before they strike.
Scientists have also used Arecibo to search for signs of intelligent extraterrestrial life. In 1974, Arecibo beamed out the most powerful broadcast Earth has ever sent to communicate with potential aliens.