Arecibo Observatory featured in James Bond film "Goldeneye" shut down:
The famous observatory in Arecibo, Puerto Rico, featured in the James Bond movie "GoldenEye," has been forced to temporarily close after a broken cable smashed through the side of its massive dish.
Around 2:45 a.m. Monday, a three-inch auxiliary cable that helped support a metal platform broke, according to a news release from the University of Central Florida. UCF manages the facility alongside Universidad Ana G. Méndez and Yang Enterprises, Inc.
When the cable broke, it created a 100-foot gash in the telescope's 1,000-foot-long reflector dish, according to UCF. It also damaged about six to eight panels along the observatory's Gregorian Dome, which is suspended over the reflector dish.
Also at WIRED and Science Mag
[Ed Note - Arecibo was also a filming location for the movies Contact and Species.]
(Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 13 2020, @10:41AM (3 children)
From another perspective, wouldn't it be fair to say the telescope damaged the cable? I mean, ask yourself which one is worse off after this incident? I contend that dangerous telescopes need to be taken down to prevent this kind of outcome. All scientific apparatus needs to be taken off-line to be fully reviewed by the Department of Energy.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 13 2020, @10:52AM
It's their own fault through using a luddite headphone jack.
Everyone else is adopting USB-C audio but the summary states it was an auxiliary cable that did the damage.
(Score: 3, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 13 2020, @01:05PM
That telescope was helping spread covid through the radio waves too, so it's a good thing that it was damaged. Had they coated the entire dish with a protective hydroxychloroquine coating, this wouldn't have happened.
(Score: 2) by shortscreen on Thursday August 13 2020, @05:15PM
MSM told me the cable was peacefully protesting.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 13 2020, @01:23PM (1 child)
The Alien message everyone has been looking for is pointing directly at the Earth NOW
(Score: 2) by ikanreed on Thursday August 13 2020, @07:43PM
A fraudulent response sent to the Arecibo radio is a huge part of alien crank lore [rationalwiki.org]
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 13 2020, @02:16PM (4 children)
That telescope was a marvelous engineering feat when it was built, and it has made important and significant contributions to science for many decades, but all we can mention is that this famous movie prop was damaged?
Just a sample [britannica.com]:
(Score: 3, Interesting) by cmdrklarg on Thursday August 13 2020, @02:54PM (2 children)
I tried to minimize that aspect of the story when I submitted it, but to be fair most of the general public would not know about Arecibo without the reference. I didn't care for that little factoid being part of the headline, but James Bond catches more eyeballs than Radio Astronomy I suppose.
The world is full of kings and queens who blind your eyes and steal your dreams.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 13 2020, @03:23PM
No, I understand how it goes. And I do appreciate your story submission because I had not heard this news. But I'm a scientist and this kind of thing has been a burr in my saddle for the last 30 years. It is therapeutic for me if I vent about it every now and then. :)
(Score: 1) by PaperNoodle on Thursday August 13 2020, @08:08PM
Glad you didn't reference the movie Contact. That would have made things weird and awkward.
B3
(Score: 2) by Thexalon on Thursday August 13 2020, @05:21PM
Well, for all we know, this damage is Sean Bean taking revenge for his character's death there in Goldeneye. Watch out, New Zealand, the spot where the orcs killed Boromir is next!
"Think of how stupid the average person is. Then realize half of 'em are stupider than that." - George Carlin
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 13 2020, @06:28PM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4V3VCt24tkE [youtube.com]