The Rise and Fall of the World's Largest Radio Telescope

You need to think big to find answers to the fundamental questions of the universe. How about building a 1000 foot diameter radio telescope into a natural sinkhole, with cryogenically cooled receivers suspended 492 feet above by bridge cables. That was the Aricebo Radio Telescope.

Completed in 1963, it was the world's largest single-aperture telescope for 53 years, only surpassed in July 2016 by the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST) in China. Following two breaks in cables supporting the receiver platform in mid-2020, the National Science Foundation decommissioned the telescope. A full collapse of the telescope occurred on December 1, 2020, before either repairs or controlled demolition could be conducted.

Dr. Harold Craft Jr. had a 45 year involvement with the Aricebo Observatory, first as a graduate student, then as a site director and facilities manager. In this presentation Hal gives us his unique insight into the history of this important scientific instrument.

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