5 ms·
Fuuuuuuuck. I understand the decision to dismantle the failing structure which is currently unsafe and tricky to repair. But might a new one be built in its p
by myself248 6y ago
Fuuuuuuuck.
I understand the decision to dismantle the failing structure which is currently unsafe and tricky to repair.
But might a new one be built in its place? How can we push for that?
- Darmody 6y agoOr maybe use all that money to build a good one on the Moon.
- PopePompus 6y agoall of that money, plus a thousand times more.
- Darmody 6y agoYes, of course it costs more, just as that telescope costs way more than the one I have at home.
- simonh 6y agoNot in your yard more and on the moon more are both more, so therefore the same. Got it.
- Darmody 6y agoYou missed my point. I know is way more expensive but that's how every thing else is. Every next step is dangerous and expensive but it's they only way to go forward.
- renewiltord 6y agoAh well, if we're seeing it that way then I propose we just build it halfway between here and Proxima Centauri.
- Rebelgecko 6y agoThey've seriously struggled to find a few million per year just to keep the thing running and do the bare minimum of maintenance (or perhaps less than the bare minimum). I think they'd be hard pressed to scrounge up the billions of dollars they'd need to put a new one on the moon
- dfsegoat 6y agoIt would seem unlikely in PR given the state of infrastructure there. The hurricane destroyed a lot of the already failing power and port infrastructure, for instance. https://www.rollcall.com/2019/11/12/report-puerto-ricos-infrastructure-failing-as-federal-aid-remains-on-hold/ https://www.rollcall.com/2019/11/12/report-puerto-ricos-infr...
- HarryHirsch 6y agoBack in the 1950s the US Government built a lot of space infrastructure in the South (Stennis, Redstone &c) to develop the backwards corners of the nation. There's no political will for that any longer, it seems.
- pinewurst 6y agoThat was far more an artifact of the seniority of certain Southern senators on appropriations committees than any commitment to regional improvement. That seniority was a byproduct of (a) horribly racist voting practices keeping those seats long term in the same hands and (b) no competition.
- HarryHirsch 6y agoYes, tell me all about Richard Shelby (AL). But whatever the reason was, the money did end up in the South and it became less agricultural as a result.
- bobthepanda 6y agoIt's kind of crazy how the elimination of pork-barrel stipulations ended up polarizing politics.
- ivalm 6y agoAdmitting Puerto Rico as a state, thus enabling Puerto Rico to have representation in congress who could argue for more infra being built there, would likely be critical.
- ocdtrekkie 6y agoI mean, it's location is still surely ideal. But it's clear the construction that's there isn't safe. I wonder if, provided they're able to dismantle the remaining facility without complete collapse, if it'd be reasonable to "rebuild" on the same site. It sounds like the towers should be rebuilt, all of the cables replaced, etc. And obviously the dish at minimum needs repair. I can't imagine anything would be salvageable from a complete collapse, but if they can bring down the observatory safely, it might not be crazy to think they could erect a new one over the dish at a later date.
- tomatotomato37 6y agoIs it an ideal location though? From an astrophysics perspective I bet it's ideal, but from a structural perspective it's still a large steel structure in the tropics that's also simultaneously in both a hurricane and earthquake zone, which to me seems closer to a worst case scenario than a perfect spot to build. Ignoring geopolitical matters I wonder if an installation on the same latitude in the mexican mountains would be better spot to build such a thing.
- bobthepanda 6y agoI mean the geopolitical status of Puerto Rico is not necessarily better, given that even today PR has terrible power infrastructure and no clear plan to fix it.
- JetSpiegel 6y agoMaybe if it was the 51st state instead of a colony, the political will would magically appear?
- notabee 6y agoYou have a good point, but we also have many decades' worth of engineering improvements that could likely be used to mitigate some of the risks.
- vultour 6y agoBy paying for it? It has been struggling with financing for a long time.
- avmich 6y agoWhat kind of money to make it running we're talking about? Articles don't seem to directly specify the number.
- URfejk 6y agoGive your own money and/or find someone that will invest in the project.
- pndy 6y agoChina has similar construction called FAST/Tianyan [1], while Russia runs RATAN-600 [2] since 70s but it differs much from Arcibo and FAST in term of construction. [1] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five-hundred-meter_Aperture_Spherical_Telescope https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five-hundred-meter_Aperture_Sp... [2] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RATAN-600 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RATAN-600
- stjohnswarts 6y agoWith half the country against public education and science literacy in general, I don't have much hope for a replacement at this point.