Puerto Rico —

On Monday, August 10 at approximately 2:45pm local time, a cable snapped at the Arecibo Observatory slashing a 100-foot tear into the large dish, according to statements from the University of Central Florida, operators of the National Science Foundation-owned facility. The damage from the first snapped cable caused significant troubles for other supporting sections of the dish. Technicians are having trouble repairing the site due to the still falling debris.

“We have a team of experts assessing the situation, Director of the Observatory, said in a statement. “Our focus is assuring the safety of our staff, protecting the facilities and equipment, and restoring the facility to full operations as soon as possible, so it can continue to assist scientists around the world.”

The Arecibo Observatory began its operation in 1963 and at the time of its completion was the world’s largest single-dish telescope (stretching 1,000 feet in diameter). The dish is a large tool in SETIs (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) since the 1970s. In 1974, the dish was used to send a binary message toward a cluster of stars 25,000 light-years away.

Arecibo projects have been suspended due to the damage sustained. Arecibo has returned from many damage fallouts such as earthquakes to Hurrican Maria. It will just take time to repair the damage.