For a couple of years, the giant Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico has been under threat of closure because of budget cuts proposed by the National Science Foundation. It appears the budget axe will not fall on Arecibo’s valley-spanning disk just yet. Here is some communication we just received from Emily Schoenfelder of Edelman Public Relations in Washington, D.C.:
“The future of the world’s largest single-dish radio telescope and site for some of our nation’s most important astronomical research has been given the green light by the Bush Administration.
“After a tireless effort led by Puerto Rico Governor Aníbal Acevedo-Vilá and Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration Executive Director Flavio Cumpiano, a bill allotting $2 million for the continued operations of Puerto Rico’s Arecibo Observatory has just received the signature of President Bush. The 2008 NASA Reauthorization Act assigns necessary funds to the Observatory under the “Near-Earth Object” (NEO) program.
“Since November 2006, the Arecibo Observatory has been in danger of closing following a recommendation made by the Division of Astronomical Sciences at the NSF for funding to be cut from $8 to $4 million by 2011. The observatory currently operates on a 24-hour-basis, providing logistical support to scientists from all over the world, and employs approximately 140 people. If the president had not approved the bill, the observatory would be forced to shut down, putting important research and monitoring and valuable jobs in jeopardy.
“The Arecibo Observatory is important for the NASA exploratory program and Puerto Rico’s continued advancement. I wanted to share this latest news item with you and provide myself as a resource should you need additional information on the Observatory.”
See my earlier blog on this issue for details:
Arecibo Telescope fights for the right to hunt killer asteroids
Additional Astronomy.com Arecibo news stories: