Impressive, but not pretty...
Probably the most sad part of this is that there is not replacement being planned.Sorry, but this whole situation is !#$%-ing outrageous. This telescope gave us the first evidence of planets beyond the solar system, produced the first map of the planet Venus, the first ever repeating FRB, and more, only to end its life by crashing in on itself like an old, forgotten building.
Similar design yes, but different funcionality. AFAIK, Arecibo could "hear" and "speak", while the chinese FAST observatory can only "hear".Isn't there a similar design being built by China?
The video I posted already had the drone view (but didn't have the "b-roll" footage).Here is another angle of the collapse. They were inspecting the cable attachments with a drone on the far tower when they failed.
The Green Bank Radio Telescope in West Virginia fell over and was repaired! Arecibo would be easier to repair because its laying on the ground normally!
That is not always the case. It strongly depends for what you are using it.Aluminium is more costly than steel.
That is not always the case. It strongly depends for what you are using it.
For construction, steel is cheaper, but has to be treated (painted for example) regularly to keep it from rusting.
Aluminum (or Aluminium as we say here ) on the other hand is not so tough when it comes to tensile loads, but builds a "natural" anticorrosive coating (oxide) that might come out as being cheaper in the long run.
As usual: ...it depends...