“If an accurate assessment is not possible, then a plan to provide supplemental connections at the socketed ends will be needed.” “With the root cause determined, a plan to assess the remaining cables can then be developed and executed,” the pair continued. Santosuosso told Ramon Lugo, principal investigator of UCF’s Florida Space Institute, in their attached letter. “Using the findings of the laboratory and analytical studies, a determination as to the root cause of the failure will be prepared,” WJE principals Jonathan C. The company proposed a detailed list of measures to investigate and stabilize the structure, and emphasized that its approach to eventual repairs and rehabilitation would be informed by those initial actions. In August, following the first cable malfunction, UCF was considering a “response plan” prepared by the Illinois-based firm Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates, Inc. In a note attached to the documents, a FOIA officer also clarifies that “NSF pursued a controlled decommissioning based on engineering assessments listed above,” but that “unfortunately, the telescope platform collapsed before the controlled demo could be planned and executed.”

“We regret that this action is necessary but could not approve any scenario that might put repair crews at risk or leave Arecibo staff and visitors vulnerable, including to any hidden structural issues.” “Given that key stabilization and repair efforts would require workers to be on or near the telescope structure, the degree of uncertainty about the cables’ strength, and the extreme forces at work, NSF accepted the recommendation to cease recovery efforts and plan for a controlled demolition,” he continued. Furthermore, the assessments found that even in the event of some stabilization actions, questions would remain as to the long-term stability of the structure.” Its cables may no longer be capable of carrying the loads they were rated to support and attempts at repairs could put workers in harm’s way. “NSF has evaluated multiple engineering assessments that found the telescope structure is in danger of a catastrophic failure. “This decision is predicated on the paramount priority of human safety,” Leithead said. The document confirms NSF’s later public statements that the famed observatory was shut down over safety concerns and is eerily prescient in its warning of a “catastrophic failure,” an outcome that materialized just over a week later. Leithead, NSF’s grants and agreements officer. Klonoff, UCF’s vice president for research and dean of the college of graduate studies, and is signed by Jeff S. That letter, dated November 23, is addressed to Elizabeth A. The documents also include a letter, sent only eight days before the December collapse, that confirms NSF’s agonizing choice to conduct a controlled demolition of the telescope after a second cable malfunction made the structure too dangerous for restoration. The documents, which were published by Government Attic in response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, reveal the initial plan to respond and repair the damage, which was sent to the University of Central Florida (UCF), the institution that manages Arecibo for NSF, in the weeks following the summer cable break. federal agency that owned Arecibo, shed light on the difficult decisions faced by government officials after an auxiliary cable snapped and smashed through the reflector dish on August 10 of the same year. New documents released by the National Science Foundation (NSF), the U.S.

Next generation arecibo telescope