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Uh, no. Arecibo was quite a low priority for the NSF/NASA for good reasons -- there are other, better, telescopes and facilities to fund.
by admiralspoo 6y ago
Uh, no. Arecibo was quite a low priority for the NSF/NASA for good reasons -- there are other, better, telescopes and facilities to fund.
- Natales 6y agoNo doubt. But how many scientific tools also become cultural icons? in an era where we need more young people becoming passionate about science and space, the loss of Arecibo feels like the loss of the Challenger to many.
- khuey 6y agoShould we really be allowing James Bond movies to choose where we spend our scientific resources? Just in the telescope domain the James Webb Space Telescope should finally launch next year and if it works will be an enormous step forwards.
- foolfoolz 6y agowho?? if not for goldeneye no one would even know this thing existed
- Natales 6y agoI was thinking of Contact actually.
- bmitc 6y agoIf it was deprioritized, which it seems it was, it was still done in a disappointing and rather eye-opening manner. Just letting an expensive and important scientific instrument deteriorate and just collapse is not the same as properly deprioritizing and decommissioning it.