Arecibo Telescope Collapse

This was one great scientific instrument. Starting in 1963, the 305-meters across Arecibo Telescope in Puerto Rico USA reigned as the largest single-dish radio telescope in the world for over 50 years. Among numerous firsts and milestones, data from Arecibo has been used to measure the spin of Mercury , map the surface of Venus , discover the first planets outside of our Solar System, verify the existence of gravitational radiation , search for extraterrestrial intelligence , and, reportedly, locate hidden military radar by tracking their reflections from the Moon. In the process of being decommissioned , the Arecibo Telescope suffered a catastrophic structural collapse early this month, as seen in the featured composite video .