4 ms·
The instrument platform was listed at 900 tons. The maximum takeoff weight of a Boeing 787 is just over 500,000 pounds, or 250 tons ... is it fair to say the in
by ilamont 6y ago
The instrument platform was listed at 900 tons. The maximum takeoff weight of a Boeing 787 is just over 500,000 pounds, or 250 tons ... is it fair to say the instrument platform was the equivalent of three fully loaded 787s, plus two M1A1 tanks piled on for good measure? That's a lot of weight for those cables to support.
- blake8086 6y agoI always think it's funny when people use large planes as a reference for heavy weights, since they're designed to be as light as possible for the volume.
- waiseristy 6y agoProbably best to compare Arecibo to a suspension bridge instead
- est31 6y agoGolden Gate bridge is 887 000 tons: https://edition.cnn.com/2013/11/01/us/golden-gate-bridge-fast-facts/index.html https://edition.cnn.com/2013/11/01/us/golden-gate-bridge-fas... So around 1000 times as heavy.
- azdle 6y agoThat sounds like the weight of the whole thing, not just the suspended part.
- radicaldreamer 6y agoI think the Golden Gate Bridge is massively overengineered (although nobody really knows) because materials engineering wasn’t super advanced back then.
- twic 6y agoI don't think the instrument platform was exactly designed to be heavy!
- markdown 6y agoBut how many football fields wide was it, and how many olympic swimming pools could you pour into it before it was full?
- lsllc 6y agoLibraries of Congress is my go-to unit of measurement. /s