The Arecibo radio telescope, damaged by falling cables then polished off by a platform collapse, will not be rebuilt. Though it was officially decommissioned and demolished after the incidents, which followed years of underinvestment, astronomers held out hope for a new installation built from scratch.
The decision was mourned by scientists around the world who used the telescope at the Arecibo Observatory for years to search for asteroids, planets and extraterrestrial life. The 1,000-foot-wide (305-meter-wide) dish also was featured in the Jodie Foster film "Contact" and the James Bond movie "GoldenEye."
It's not enough to rebuild it, it must be funded and maintained for decades and it must be useful, and there are many other sites in operation now. Here's the detailed proposal for rebuilding submitted by scientists.
The new plan, to build a $5m museum on the site instead, sounds like a great reason to visit Puerto Rico.