Collapsed Arecibo Telescope Visual China Data Map
The National Science Foundation announced on October 13 that it will not rebuild the collapsed Arecibo telescope, and plans to build a science education center in Arecibo, a mountain town in northern Puerto Rico, where the telescope is located.
According to the Associated Press, officials at the National Science Foundation said on the 13th that the cause of the collapse of the Arecibo telescope is still being investigated, and that some of the telescope's previous observation missions have been undertaken by other astronomical observation facilities in the United States.
The Arecibo telescope, owned by the National Science Foundation of the United States, with a diameter of 305 meters, suddenly collapsed on the morning of December 1, 2020, ending its 57-year history of operation.
The Arecibo telescope has been used to carry out many important researches, including tracking asteroids approaching the earth, observing pulsars, etc. It has been hit by hurricanes and earthquakes for decades, and steel cables have been broken one after another. .
The proposed education center, designed to promote education related to science, technology, engineering and mathematics, is expected to open next year at a cost of $5 million.