Giant Radio Telescope Collapses

Algonquin Radio Observatory
46 metre dish, Operated by Natural Resources Canada as a member of the International VLBI Service

Ryle Telescope
Arcminute Microkelvin Imager (AMI)
Green Bank Telescope
World’s largest fully mobile single-dish radio telescope
Submillimeter Array
Operated jointly by the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory and the Academia Sinica Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics of Taiwan
Jodrell Bank Observatory
Jodrell Bank Observatory is part of the School of Physics and Astronomy at The University of Manchester. The Observatory is home to the Lovell Radio Telescope and the MERLIN/VLBI National Facility which is operated by the University on behalf of PPARC. It is a place of learning, teaching and research for the many astronomers, students and engineers who develop and use the facilities here.
NASA Deep Space Network (DSN)
Canberra Complex
View of the Canberra Complex showing the 70m (230 ft.) antenna and the 34m (110 ft.) antennas.
The Canberra Deep Space Communications Complex, located outside Canberra, Australia, is one of the three complexes which comprise NASA’s Deep Space Network.
info, no scientist inside of it was hurt.
Before & after collapse:

(images credit: Richard Porkas)

One possible cause for this collapse is believed to be the sudden failure of a large gusset plate in the box girder assembly - a key structural element in antenna’s support. The big science was thwarted (again) by a single piece of metal… as in a few other unfortunate cases we can recollect.

But honestly, we all know what REALLY happened:

New radio telescope dwarfs the old one!

The telescope was rebuilt in 2000; it is now bigger, better, and (obviously) structurally safer than its predecessor. Still, human engineering ends up pushed to the limit when it comes to such titanic and intricate structures…

At least the largest telescope dish is safely cradled between some forested hills. I’m speaking, of course, about “the largest single dish in the world” - Arecibo Observatory (at 306 meters):

(Photo courtesy of the NAIC - Arecibo Observatory, a facility of the NSF)

This is where James Bond battled his opponent, balancing on wires:

the newly rebuilt in place of the collapsed telescope (and no less impressive) Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope is considered The Largest Steerable Single Dish in the World (at 100 by 110 meters)

(image credit: Geremia)

Can you spot two workmen on a walkway?

Other telescopes can collapse, but this one keeps standing. Even though it’s totally rusted and has been abandoned for years… Having a rainbow snuggle up to its dish apparently helps with a structural blessing:

Strangest Shape for a Radio Telescope
This is “The Horn Antenna” at Bell Labs, Holmdel, New Jersey. It’s where the cosmic microwave background radiation was discovered in 1965. Apparently such design worked really well for research purposes… truly looks like one giant ear, tuned to the Universe:

Stumble it!