Arecibo's Collapse : The Verdict

However, the report found the collapse began well before the fateful day in December 2020. The committee concluded that the “failure sequence” took 39 months and began with the effects of Hurricane Maria in September 2017. Inspections following the storm found evidence of cable slippage, according to the report, but wasn’t investigated further or addressed by anyone. “The lack of documented concern from the contracted engineers about the inconsequentiality of cable pullouts or the safety factors between Hurricane Maria in 2017 and the failure is alarming,” the committee wrote.

So, poor maintenance likely played a role in the collapse. Not really a surprise, but an important clarification. If I recall correctly, the cables were otherwise failing at something like 75% of their rated tolerance - well within the safety margin. That things were worse than they appeared makes sense.

But then it gets weird :

But that’s not all. As the committee noted, “in over a century of successful use prior to the Arecibo Telescope’s collapse, all the forensic investigations agreed that such a spelter socket failure had never been reported.” The report went on: “The only hypothesis the committee could develop that provides a plausible but unprovable answer … is that the socket zinc creep was unexpectedly accelerated in the Arecibo Telescope’s uniquely powerful electromagnetic radiation environment.” In other words, the sockets’ role in suspending such a powerful radio transmitter somehow contributed to the 2020 catastrophe.

I have no idea what that means. If people stop hurling admin tasks at me, I might try and read at least part of the report.

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https://gizmodo.com/jaw-dropping-report-reveals-causes-of-arecibo-telescope-collapse-2000517284