Whither Arecibo?

When the Arecibo radio telescope collapsed last year, the world lost the second-largest radio telescope and one of the key instruments used to monitor near-Earth objects. It will likely be years before a replacement can be constructed, assuming that funding can be found. 

For the moment, cleanup of the site has begun, at an estimated cost of $50 million (USD). 

A private contractor and experts from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center are currently conducting a forensics analysis to determine the cause of the original auxiliary cable socket failure. A separate contractor is performing the forensic investigation at Arecibo, with final reports from both contractors expected in December 2021. In addition to these efforts, the NSF is asking that an “expedited independent study” into the cause of the cable failures be completed by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

A company that specializes in disaster cleanup and environmental remediation has been brought in to help. Soils contaminated with hydraulic oils, which were released during the collapse, are being sampled and removed. The cleanup team is also testing groundwater and surface water near the facility. A “Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan” is in the works to “prevent sediment and pollutants from migrating offsite,” as are wildlife and vegetation surveys to help in the protection of vulnerable species, according to the report.

The report lists the preliminary cost estimates for the cleanup as being between $30 million and $50 million from now until the end of 2022.

In the meantime, some research continues on the site using Arecibo's 12-metre radio antenna and two lidar (light detection and ranging) systems. 

There is now a proposal (PDF link) to build a new radio telescope, possibly with a different design, on the site. The cost could be as much as $450 million (USD). 

For the next several years, astronomers will have to be content with using the 500-metre FAST radio telescope in China.