Save Arecibo

The Arecibo Observatory is being threatened with budget cuts and the folks at SETI@home are looking for help via contact with congress. If the Observatory cuts take place the telescope and data source might no longer be available until 2020, when a replacement is scheduled to be available.


www.engadget.com...
setiathome.berkeley.edu...

Well this really sad and if the budget cuts take out a massive percentage of money then it could be devastating. I was reading that Arecibo could be a great tool in seeing comets and asteroids heading towards Earth; Could be handy around 2012-ish But seriously this is very bad news, ill do some more research on this and hopefully come back with some good information.

Fox

Oh how sad. I remember how very excited I was to tour Arecibo. To me it is one of the most memorable day trips ever. I'll follow the link to make my support known.

Well I don't know if Arecibo falls under federal or local government budget, but right now if this is done because is under local, the government in PR is under a major law sue for misappropriation of funds.

Things in the Island are not good, so the local government is trying to find money from anywhere to cover the missing money that has been wasted and misused for years.

I have been told that they are shorting out people's stimulus checks that is federal funded, so this tell you how bad the financial situation is in the Island.

The Arecibo radio-telescope was my neighbor and a regular haunt of mine for several years. The technology, while sadly lagging at the time, and it's upkeep were the domain of Cornell University as well as some other affiliated higher education organizations. The government was in charge overall, as such devices are major components of the national scientific landscape, especially when it represented a hitherto unequaled scope and size.

During that time, local engineers were constantly giving their all to keep the elements and time from reeking havoc on the superstructure, and the scientists, God bless them, were ever so gently eeking out any data they could without stressing the system.

It may be that the upgrade would be better served by a period of inactivity, but over a decade? By the time they got around to the refurbishment, almost everything installed will be obsolete. This is just another indicator of the lack of attention our government is guilty of; many of our infrastructure projects are not maintained, nor are they considered worthy of effort, unless they represent profit for the corporate regime or it's 'buddies.'

I hope they manage to keep it running, I will contact my congressman for some support.

Besides, where will the chupacabra hang out if not there?