posted 09-20-2017 08:17 PM               

A spokesperson for the National Science Foundation (NSF), which manages the Arecibo Observatory, told The Washington Post that "all on-site staff were safe as of 8 a.m. Wednesday." The observatory closed on Monday (Sept. 18) as Puerto Rico braced for the hurricane.

On Thursday (Sept. 21), the facility will reopen to some staff, who will then begin to assess the damage. The visitor center will remain closed through next Wednesday (Sept. 27), Arecibo representatives said on Twitter.

Joe Acaba, the first astronaut of Puerto Rican descent, was in Russia training to launch to the International Space Station when his house in Houston was flooded by Hurricane Harvey. Now in space, he reacted to the impact of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico, where some of his family still resides.

In an interview with The Associated Press on Wednesday, the first astronaut of Puerto Rican heritage offered words of comfort to family members and everyone else during the wrath of Hurricane Maria.

"My parents were born there, so a lot of relatives, cousins, godparents" are still in Puerto Rico, Acaba said. "I hope everyone's doing well and that you take care of yourselves."

posted 09-21-2017 11:03 AM               

USRA is working to assess and evaluate the situation at Arecibo Observatory. Currently, we have no contact with the Observatory. One observatory staff member located in Arecibo Town contacted via short-wave radio reports that trees are down, power is out, houses damaged and roads impassable.

We have no reason to believe that staff sheltered at Arecibo Observatory are in immediate danger since they have generators, well water and plenty of food. This is a rapidly changing situation, and we are trying to do the best we can to contact USRA employees and find out their status. We will update you as soon as we have more information.

posted 09-22-2017 10:16 AM               

Universities Space Research Association (USRA) reports that Short Wave Radio contact has been established with the Arecibo Observatory. The staff and family members sheltered there are safe (including five USRA staff).

The major structures including the 300-m telescope are intact, though suffered some damage with the atmospheric radar line feed lost, with falling debris puncturing the dish in several places. Also a separate 12m dish used as a phase reference for Very Long Baseline Interferometry was also lost.

"We will need a full assessment of the damage, repairs that are needed and when the observatory can resume observations," says Dr. Nicholas White, Senior Vice President for Science at Universities Space Research Association.

We are still trying to contact the majority of the observatory staff who were sheltering in their homes or other safe places. The access road is totally covered in debris and inaccessible. USRA will continue provide updates as it gets more information.

posted 09-22-2017 02:06 PM               

Because of the storm, a 96-foot line feed antenna — which helps focus, receive, and transmit radio waves — broke in half and fell about 500 feet into the huge dish below, puncturing it in several places, says Pennsylvania State University's Jim Breakall, who talked with Vazquez.

A fixture of the observatory since 1966, that line feed weighs about ten thousand pounds and is easily visible in images of the telescope as the pointy thing hanging off the platform. It was once used to detect mountains on the surface of Venus, and it is still crucial for studies of the part of Earth's atmosphere called the ionosphere, says former observatory director Frank Drake, who is also my dad.

"It allows the Arecibo telescope to achieve the most sensitivity of any radar telescope in the world," Drake says, noting that it's not clear how much time or money could be needed for repairs. "The end result is that the telescope will not be fully operative for some time at all wavelengths."

posted 09-28-2017 09:25 AM               

Statement on impact of Hurricane Maria on Arecibo Observatory

Jim Ulvestad, NSF acting assistant director for Mathematical and Physical Sciences issues statement

With winds of 155 miles per hour, Hurricane Maria devastated the island of Puerto Rico Sept. 20. The eye of the storm passed over Arecibo Observatory, which is operated and managed for the National Science Foundation (NSF) by SRI International, Universities Space Research Association (USRA), and Universidad Metropolitana (UMET).

Above: Arecibo staff after the storm. (Arecibo Observatory)

While Arecibo Observatory suffered some damage, initial indications are that the damage was less severe than might have been expected from a storm of the magnitude of Hurricane Maria. Operations at the Observatory are suspended until further notice. NSF Acting Assistant Director Jim Ulvestad issued the following statement to address continued concern.

NSF is deeply concerned about the impact of Hurricane Maria on the people of Puerto Rico, and our thoughts go out to Puerto Rico at this challenging time. The number one priority for NSF is the safety and recovery for Puerto Rico's population and any concerns regarding NSF activities are secondary to that top priority. While we know that there is some damage to Arecibo Observatory, we do not yet know the full extent of the damage. Inspections to assess the infrastructure are underway.

Preliminary assessments describe minimal damage in comparison to many other parts of Puerto Rico. As a result of the relatively intact Arecibo Observatory infrastructure, the Observatory is currently being used as a search and rescue hub by FEMA. At this time, we cannot predict when research operations at Arecibo Observatory might resume, however test observations to evaluate performance have begun. After the damage assessments are completed, NSF will evaluate whether any adjustments need to be made to our ongoing environmental review process regarding future operations of Arecibo Observatory. We will provide further updates once we have more information.