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Resource > Arecibo Telescope Collapse Forensic Report

Arecibo Telescope Collapse Forensic Report

August 11, 2022
Arecibo Telescope Collapse Forensic Investigation Report Senior Associate Pierre Ghisbain observing the debris from the Arecibo telescope collapse. Thornton Tomasetti

Authors

John Abruzzo, P.E., S.E.Liling Cao, Ph.D., P.E., Pierre Ghisbain, Ph.D., P.E.

Abstract

It took just seconds for the 900-ton instrument platform at the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico to come crashing down into the 305-meter-wide dish, destroying the iconic radio telescope. A Thornton Tomasetti team of forensic engineers worked to determine the cause of the failure. Our findings were released by the National Science Foundation (NSF) in August 2022.