Three years after the well-known Arecibo Observatory met a dramatic end, we now know the root cause of its demise. The Arecibo, located in Puerto Rico, was famous both for its scientific breakthroughs and its many appearances in pop culture, including being the setting for the climax of the James Bond movie GoldenEye. But it mysteriously collapsed in November 2020 and was decommissioned.
Now, nearly three years later, we finally know what happened. The remains of the failed cable sockets were taken to Oak Ridge’s High Flux Isotope Reactor and subjected to neutron scans. These scans revealed that the cables which suspended the instrument platform above the massive dish had begun to fray from supporting the platform. This caused their zinc lining to flow until the sockets failed and the cables were pulled out of them.
