The Damaged Giant Alien Hunter Telescope

Teleskop Arecibo Observatory (dok. University of Central Flordia)

JAKARTA - The Arecibo Observatory, a giant radio telescope that searches for alien life on other planets, was severely damaged. Several important parts of the telescope were reportedly damaged so that the telescope could not work.

According to a report by the University of Central Flordia, the operation of the Arecibo telescope was temporarily suspended. following the breaking of the two support cables that support the structure of the giant telescope's dish.

This caused the huge reflector plates of the 305 meter telescope to fall. The cable break also damaged various other components.

"Obviously we don't want this to happen. But the important thing is that no one was injured in the incident," said the director of the Arecibo Observatory, Francisco Cordova, as quoted by Sciencealert, Friday, November 13.

Arecibo telescope support cable disconnection (doc. University of Central Flordia)

This is not a new occurrence for the Arecibo Observatory, especially the age of the telescope that has been operating for nearly five decades in Puerto Rico. A similar incident occurred in another part of the observatory in August.

Previously, the observatory was closed for several months after being affected by Hurricane Maria in 2017. Then earlier this year, the telescope was closed again in January and February due to a series of earthquakes that hit Puerto Rico.

"This condition is not good news. But we are committed to making the facility back online. Because, this tool is important for the progress of science, especially knowing the existence of aliens," said Cordova.

Arecibo telescope malfunction (doc. University of Central Flordia)

The Arecibo Observatory has been used for scientific research and tracking asteroids that are close to Earth. This telescope is also famous for being used to send signals into space, as part of the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) program to detect other life beyond Earth.

To date, the SETI experiment remains the main project on the observatory agenda. The Arecibo telescope is also part of the NASA program to detect and study objects near Earth, such as asteroids that pose a threat to our planet.