On the 1st local time, the National Science Foundation (NSF) confirmed that the Arecibo radio telescope in Puerto Rico, known as one of the “two big eyes” of the earth, had collapsed.

According to CNN, NSF said on Twitter that day, “The platform of the Arecibo radio telescope collapsed overnight. Fortunately, there were no reports of casualties.” Engineers have assessed the damage and determined the telescope’s All three supporting towers were broken, and the 900-ton receiving platform fell onto the dish-shaped reflector below.

Mendes, a physicist who has worked at the Arecibo Observatory for a long time, told the US “Business Insider”, “The only place where similar research is currently being done is China’s 500-meter spherical radio telescope, which is more sensitive than Arecibo. Lost. Arecibo has lost the ability to monitor weak radio signals 24 hours a day. Now we only have one eye.”

According to CNN, the collapse was the final blow to one of the most powerful telescopes on earth. For decades, the Arecibo Telescope has been helping astronomical discoveries and has withstood the test of hurricanes, earthquakes and tropical storms. However, it has been scarred. On November 19, just before the telescope collapsed, NSF announced that the telescope would be shut down and removed in a controlled manner. After the announcement of the closure of the Arecibo Observatory, 35,000 people participated in the network signature activity and requested the rescue of the telescope.

According to CNN, the telescope has made great contributions to important discoveries in radio astronomy and research on planets and the solar system. Arecibo played a key role in the discovery of the first planet outside the solar system and helped astronomers identify potentially dangerous asteroids flying over the Earth. In 1974, Arecibo discovered the first binary pulsar, which indirectly confirmed the predictions of general relativity. In addition, the telescope also painted the first radar picture of the surface of Venus, and in 1992 it discovered the planetary system outside the solar system for the first time.