Save Arecibo !

Resharing in the light of the NSF's draft "Environmental Impact Statement", a.k.a., "what shall we do with Arecibo Observatory ?"

http://astrorhysy.blogspot.co.uk/2016/06/just-give-them-some-money-already.html

Robert Minchin writes :

Help save Arecibo Observatory!

As you might have heard, Arecibo is currently under threat from the NSF. If you feel that your education has benefited from Arecibo and/or if you feel that you have been inspired by the Observatory (scientifically or culturally), please write to the NSF to let them know, and send a copy to the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation. Letters/emails need to arrive by 12 December 2016.

Addresses are:
NSF: Envcomp-AST@nsf.gov
Ms. Elizabeth Pentecost
RE: Arecibo Observatory
4201 Wilson Blvd, Ste 1045S
Arlington, VA 22230

Advisory Council: achp@achp.gov
John Fowler
Executive Director
Advisory Council on Historic Preservation
401 F Street NW, Suite 308
Washington, DC 20001-2637

Thanks!

The NSF's proposal is nothing short of bonkers :
http://websites.suagm.edu/ao/?q=AO-Response-EIS
(Full report > 200 pages : https://www.nsf.gov/mps/ast/env_impact_reviews/arecibo/eis/DEIS.pdf)

TLDR : They want to keep Arecibo running but with reduced funding from the NSF and more from partner institutions. That's fine, and quite understandable given a funding shortfall. However, for some reason known only to themselves, they also propose demolishing so many buildings that Arecibo would be dealt a very efficient death blow. It would completely stop Arecibo's planetary radar capabilities (Goldstone is the only Solar System radar transmitter in the world) which provides about $5 million of Arecibo's ~$12 million budget. It would demolish the buildings where the permanent scientist's work and the visiting observers are housed, thus killing it completely as a scientific facility. It would, in short, be completely mad, and I for one shall be telling them this using those exact words.

There is no good replacement for Arecibo planned. Not "planned in the near future", but at all. There is nothing remotely comparable to Arecibo - yes, China's FAST is bigger, but its frequency range is much smaller and it won't do planetary radar. It has yet to be demonstrated if it even works at all. Arecibo does unique science, and if we lose it there's little hope we'll ever be able to replace it. We're still making discoveries with Arecibo even in the very nearby Universe for goodness bloody sake; yes, eventually it will become obsolete, but with proper (though modest) investment and development it could remain competitive for decades to come.