アレシボ天文台が崩壊　プエルトリコの巨大望遠鏡

【アレシボＡＦＰ＝時事】米領プエルトリコにあるアレシボ天文台の巨大電波望遠鏡が1日、崩壊し、900トン余りの受信機が約140メートル下のパラボラアンテナに落下して粉砕した。同天文台は、映画「007」シリーズの撮影でも使われていた。（写真は米領プエルトリコで、崩壊する前のアレシボ天文台望遠鏡のアンテナ部分に開いた穴）
　同天文台では今年、パラボラアンテナの上につり上げられていたプラットホームを支えていたケーブルのうちの２本が断線。エンジニアからは老朽化を警告する声が上がり、全米科学財団（ＮＳＦ）は先月、望遠鏡の解体を発表したばかりだった。
　現場の写真には、空中にちりが舞い上がる様子が写されている。ＮＳＦの広報担当ロブ・マーゲッタ氏はＡＦＰに対し、プラットホームが落下したことを認め、負傷者が出たとの情報はないと説明。「さらなる詳細は確認でき次第、発表する」と述べた。
　アレシボ天文台の望遠鏡は世界最大級で、１９６０年代から多くの天文学上の発見に貢献してきた。壮大なスケールと立地でも有名で、映画『００７／ゴールデンアイ』ではこのパラボラアンテナの上でアクションシーンを撮影。映画『コンタクト』では、米女優ジョディ・フォスターさん演じる天文学者が宇宙人の信号受信を試みる施設としてアレシボ天文台が使われた。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2020/12/02-10:19）

The Arecibo Observatory telescope in Puerto Rico, which once starred in a James Bond film, collapsed Tuesday when its 900-ton receiver platform fell 450 feet (140 meters) and smashed onto the radio dish below.
Engineers had recently warned of the huge structure's decrepit condition, and the US National Science Foundation (NSF) announced only last month that it would be dismantled.
Two cables that held the platform in place over the radio dish -- which measures 1,000 feet (300 meters) in diameter -- had snapped this year, and the structure finally gave way on Tuesday morning.
Photographs showed clouds of dust rising into the air.
We can confirm the platform fell and that we have reports of no injuries. We will release additional details as they are confirmed, Rob Margetta, spokesman for the NSF, told AFP.
The telescope was one of the largest in the world and has been a tool for many astronomical discoveries since the 1960s, as well as being famous for its dramatic scale and setting.
An action scene from the Bond film GoldenEye took place high above the dish, and in the film Contact an astronomer played by Jodie Foster used the observatory in her quest for alien signals.
- 'Big loss for the world' -
Abel Mendez, director of the Planetary Habitability Laboratory at the University of Puerto Rico at Arecibo, said the platform fell before 8:00am (1200 GMT).
He described it as a total disaster.
Many students are trained in astronomy in the observatory, they are inspired like me to do a career in science and astronomy, he said.
The loss of the Arecibo telescope is a big loss for the world, but it is more of a loss for Puerto Rico. It is an icon for our island.
The telescope was in operation until August this year, and scientists had lobbied the NSF to reverse its decision to close the site.
In August, an auxiliary cable failed after slipping from its socket in one of the towers and left a 100-foot gash in the dish below.
Engineers were working to determine how to assess and repair the damage when a main cable connected to the same tower broke on November 6.
Before Tuesday, a controlled demolition had been planned to avoid an unexpected collapse.
Among the telescope's successes was in 1992 discovering the first exoplanet -- a planet outside the Solar System -- and in 1981 it helped produce the first radar maps of the surface of Venus.
The observatory's website said the telescope was a world-leading radio astronomy, solar system radar and atmospheric physics facility, contributing highly relevant data to support discovery, innovation and the advancement of science.
Over its lifetime, Arecibo Observatory has helped transform our understanding of the ionosphere, Michael Wiltberger, head of NSF's geospace section, said last month.
The site had hoped the dismantling plan would preserve other parts of the observatory for future research and education.