The telescope boasts a 1,000-foot-wide dish featured in the Jodie Foster film "Contact" and the James Bond movie "GoldenEye." Scientists worldwide have used the dish along with the 900-ton platform hanging 450 feet above it to track asteroids on a path to Earth, conduct research that led to a Nobel Prize and determine if a planet is potentially habitable. In its 57 years of operation, it endured hurricanes, endless humidity and a recent string of strong earthquakes. The telescope was built in the 1960s with money from the Defense Department during a push to develop anti-ballistic missile defenses. He said the goal was to preserve the telescope without placing people at risk, but, "we have found no path forward to allow us to do so safely." "We understand how much Arecibo means to this community and to Puerto Rico." "This decision is not an easy one for to make, but the safety of people is our number one priority," said Sean Jones, the agency's assistant director for the mathematical and physical sciences directorate. Science Foundation officials noted that even if crews were to repair all the damage, engineers found that the structure would still be unstable in the long term. 6, one of the telescope's main steel cables snapped, leading officials to warn that the entire structure could collapse. An auxiliary cable broke in August and tore a 100-foot hole in the reflector dish and damaged the dome above it. The independent, federally funded agency said it's too dangerous to keep operating the single dish radio telescope - one of the world's largest - given the significant damage it recently sustained. SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - The National Science Foundation announced Thursday that it will close the huge telescope at the renowned Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico in a blow to scientists worldwide who depend on it to search for planets, asteroids and extraterrestrial life.
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