| September 1961 Popular Mechanics |
 [Table of Contents]
Wax nostalgic about and learn from the history of early
mechanics and electronics. See articles from
Popular Mechanics,
published continuously since 1902. All copyrights hereby acknowledged.
|
The 1,000-meter
radiotelescope at
Arecibo, Puerto Rico, the one used by
Carl Sagan's team
for broadcasting a "here we are" message toward the globular star cluster M13,
in the constellation of Hercules, back in 1974, experienced a catastrophic
mechanical failure in December of 2020. It saw "first light," a term used by
astronomers for the first time a telescope is used for observation, in November
1963. This article on the proposed 1,000-meter Arecibo radiotelescope appeared
in a 1961 issue of Popular Mechanics magazine. After many modifications
over its lifetime, it operated over a
300 MHz to 10 GHz range, and although the dish is fixed in position, the
moveable feedhorn facilitates a coverage of -1° to 39° relative to the zenith
position. The transmitters were used for radar measurement of moons and planets.
This document issues by the National Science Foundation in December 2010
announced the
Arecibo Observatory retirement.
Radio-Radar Telescope Will Listen to Stars and Map Moon
 This fall a team of space scientists will turn on a giant radio-radar telescope
nestled in a mountain valley near Arecibo, Puerto Rico, to investigate, among other
things, the properties of the ionosphere.
It also will bombard the moon with radar signals; the echoes will produce a topographical
map.
The $6,000,000 'scope, a tool of the Defense Department, has a fixed reflector.
Posted December 20, 2023
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