100,000 signatures have been obtained for the White House to attend the Arecibo radio telescope rebuild petition

A petition on the White House website asking the United States Congress to release the necessary funds to rebuild the Arecibo Observatory radio telescope, which collapsed on Dec. 1, reached the target of 100,000 signatures.

“Our petition for #RebuildTheAreciboObservatory has reached 100,000 signatures !!! THANK YOU to each of the people who signed the petition, shared their stories, and fought for the future of science in Puerto Rico for helping us reach this milestone !!! “the organization Save the Arecibo Observatory wrote on its official Twitter account.

They can also read: They are collecting signatures for the White House to attend the reconstruction of the Arecibo radio telescope

In order for the White House to speak about it, they had to collect the signatures within 30 days. The request was made on December 2, so they had until January 1 to reach it.

“This telescope had many possibilities that cannot be replaced by an existing or planned installation. It had the most powerful and sensitive planetary radar system in the world and offered unparalleled ability to track and characterize asteroids near Earth … We asked Congress to allocate funds to build a new Arecibo radio telescope with greater capabilities than the previous telescope. maintain US leadership in planetary defense, astronomy and ionospheric studies; and inspire a new generation of scientists, ”the petition reads.

You can also read: The Arecibo radio telescope could have been saved

Last Monday evening, the US Congress approved to demand that the National Science Foundation (NSF), owner of the Arecibo Observatory, present a report within 60 days on the possibility of restoring a technology similar to that of the radio telescope. the process. cleaning the area and damage caused by the collapse.

At around 7:55 AM on December 1, one of the cables leading to one of the three towers supporting the 305-meter-high platform – consisting of the azimuth arm supporting the Gregorian dome – failed and caused the 900-tonne structure to collapse catastrophically and fell from a height of 450 feet.

However, it all started last August when another support cable fell off. At the beginning of November, a second cable, this time a large one, broke on the same tower. Multiple evaluations from independent engineering companies found that the telescope’s construction was “at risk of catastrophic failure” and that the cables were no longer able to withstand the loads for which they were designed.

In response to the reports, the NSF decided not to repair the radio telescope and announced that it would be confiscated.

The director of the Arecibo Observatory, Francisco CordobaHe pointed out after the collapse that the NSF did not accept a series of proposals that could have been implemented in his day and might have saved the radio telescope.