The world’s biggest radio telescope was damaged yesterday as one of the support cables failed.
The damage is serious as the falling cable shattered a big part of the dish creating a 100ft (30m) hole.
Engineers are on the scene working on the plan to repair it, but many scientists say it may not be fixable.
The break occurred at around 2:45am and at this moment it’s not clear what caused the cable to break off.
“We have a team of experts assessing the situation,” said the director of the observatory, Francisco Cordova. “Our focus is assuring the safety of our staff, protecting the facilities and equipment, and restoring the facility to full operations as soon as possible, so it can continue to assist scientists around the world.”
Arecibo facility in Puerto Rico is behind some of the major discoveries in astrophysics, like the one shortly before the incident where it led to the discovery of cosmic “heartbeat”, as reported by the University of Central Florida.
Due to its central role in many breakthroughs, scientists hope it can be restored to its full capacity soon.
