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NEWS FROM AO | The management of the Arecibo Observatory is very positive and are working as fast as they can to complete the assessment of the collapse while also working towards the plans for reconstruction. They are being limited by NSF and their bureaucracy. No surprise there https://twitter.com/ruperto1023/status/1333785969221193735
I spoke to Francisco Cordova, Director of AO. The AO management team is determined to find a solution to this issue and to hopefully reconstruct a modern facility with much greater scientific capabilities. His attitude was inspiring and it made me very happy.
The AO team are overwhelmed with the support and attention they have received since yesterday morning. They are thankful to @SaveTheAO and our petition to stabilize the structure (before the collapse). Please sign here, it’s still important: https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/petition-emergency-action-evaluate-and-stabilize-arecibo-radio-telescope
IMPORTANT: Right now, a new petition that calls for the reconstruction is being discussed by members of the scientific community. It will probably be out today or tomorrow. Follow @SaveTheAO for more information.
Let’s talk about the structure: All three towers have been determined to be stable. All of them lost the top sections. You can see the damage here: (Tower 4 and 12, respectively).
When the structure collapse Tower 4 was pulled back by the “backstays” (cables that anchored it to the ground). While not shown here, it was pulled a bit back like that. It is still standing.
Towers 12 and 8 were pulled to each other since the weight of the platform swung towards the center distance between the two. Of course, you cannot see that effect in this picture but that’s what the engineers found.
The dish and the surroundings: it seems like they have begun to clear the road to get down there. There’s a lot of debris so it’s going to take a while before they can inspect everything up close. The priority is to prevent any possible environmental impact that could be...
Created by the oil that was used in the platform’s equipment and by the lead counterweights that were placed up there.
There are two official videos of the incident but the NSF has not agreed to release it. It will probably be released later today. The description of the visuals is terrifying. This is what I was told.
At the moment of the collapse, the engineers were inspecting the platform with a drone. This drone captured the breaking of another cable and the subsequent events. They tell me it’s was chaotic scene. In good Puerto Rican Spanish: ¡fue una cosa salvaje! Drone vid has no sound.
The other video was taken from the Control Room. This one has audio. People were in this building and saw it all come crashing down. The collapse took about 30-45 seconds. An employee said she just stood still and started to pray to God.
Six strands of cable popped out over the weekend. That’s when they knew the collapse was imminent. They didn’t think it would last until the end of the week. The AO team had their hands tied. They did as much as they could.
Now let’s talk about NSF. It’s almost universally agreed on that AO must be assigned to another federal agency. This is where it gets interesting as there are many ideas and possibilities. I’ll mention two of them next.
The Air Force and the Space Force have a great interest in AO. It seems like they could use the facilities to complete some of their missions. They wanted to take over AO, stabilize it (when it was possible), remodel it and then pass it to somebody else to manage it.
I’m being very vague on this because I don’t want to reveal more info than I am allowed. You can find people who are working in that front. I would love to know more about this.
NASA - there are many advocates for the idea that the space agency takes control of AO, myself included. Some even propose an agreement like the one made between NASA and Caltech to manage the Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL). This would give NASA significantly more science and mission
Planning capabilities than it has. AO can support both human and robotic space missions. It’s a great asset. I’m told that there’s a good feeling that @UCF can manage AO under such an agreement with NASA. Here’s hoping!!!
NASA’s Arecibo Observatory sounds spectacular!!!! It would bring lots of opportunities to the island and a heightened sense of national pride to all Puerto Ricans.
I should mention that the NASA Puerto Rico Space Grant Consortium has sent a letter to @Jenniffer2012, PR’s representative in the US Congress. The details of this letter will be revealed soon. I have no further info about it but I suppose it la about seeking Congressional action.
The AO team will meet with Governor @wandavazquezg tomorrow. They will seek $150 M from the PR Government and ask Congress for the rest of the money. More info about this should be known tomorrow. However, the Gov. has shown a great interest in helping out.
We will see how that turns out. Again, here’s hoping!
In terms of the reconstruction, they think it can take 2-3 years. They are positive that with today’s advanced construction techniques the new Arecibo Observatory can be built faster and with more powerful equipments, finer resolution, and larger observation capabilities.
Several concepts for the New Arecibo Observatory have been in the works for some time. Someone told me “We can’t wait to share them.” Then they joked that the new facilities will not have any cables. 
A very important issue that most people are unaware of is that the paychecks of the employees of the Visitor’s Center depend on the sales of the Arecibo Observatory’s Galaxy E-Shop. You can help them out by buying AO merch here https://shop.areciboobservatory.org . 
lots of cool stuff 
!!
lots of cool stuff !!
Oh, and if you want a piece of the Arecibo Observatory stay tuned because there are plans to sell the remains of this historic structure as a memorabilia that can raise funds for the New Arecibo Observatory!!! @NAICobservatory. @SaveTheAO #RebuildAreciboObservatory
I was live with @NoticentroWAPA this morning from @NAICobservatory. Watch one of the segments here. https://www.wapa.tv/noticias/locales/colapso-del-observatorio-de-arecibo-duro-unos-45-segundos_20131122493592.html?fbclid=IwAR2rfQhwHaK_iW1ANMpwrPesvOUnrpZWJp-Wzp5fnpCi2wwajQrJqg7_Uys
One last thing, I also do science communication in Spanish with my @TheAstroRican page. I talk about space exploration in simple terms so that anyone can enjoy my posts. I also linked history, culture and space. Go check it out and support me in this other endeavor. 
