[asapmembers] SAVE THE DATE: December 1, 12 pm ET: Remembering the Tragic Arecibo Telescope Collapse and Advocating for its Future

[secretary at areciboscience.org]

Dear Colleagues,
	Please join us on December 1st at Noon ET to commemorate the tragic collapse of the 
Arecibo telescope one year ago.  Prof. Don Campbell will highlight parts of his new book on 
the Observatory (see below).  Members of the new ASAP Board will briefly update us on 
activities advocating for the Observatory’s future.  And ASAP members and friends will 
share their short videos on What Does Arecibo Mean to You?  

		Date: Wednesday, 1st December, 12 noon ET
		Moderated by ASAP Board Chair, Prof. Héctor Arce
		Watch for the zoom link which will be sent 24-48 hours prior to the event
		

Keynote presentation: 
	Prof. Don Campbell, former NAIC Director and author of a history of the Observatory 
            "Celebrating the William E. Gordon 305m Telescope: Its History and Scientific Achievements"

Abstract:
This first anniversary of the shocking collapse of the William E. Gordon Telescope is an opportunity to reflect on 
the history of the telescope itself, its amazing scientific achievements and the people who made it all possible.  
In May 1958 William (Bill) Gordon gave a seminar in the School of Electrical Engineering at Cornell University 
in which he outlined the specifications of an antenna and radar system that would be capable of measuring the 
electron distribution with height and other properties of the Earth's ionosphere. He also pointed out that the radar 
system would be capable of studies of the Sun and nearby planets and that the antenna would also contribute 
to the then still new field of radio astronomy. Over the next five and a bit years, Gordon and a small group of 
engineers and scientists turned the idea into reality with the completion of the Arecibo telescope in November 
1963. The talk will cover the telescope design and construction, some early science successes, the first upgrade 
of the telescope in the early 1970s, some of the science that this allowed, the second "Gregorian" upgrade in the 
1990s and, again, some of the resulting achievements. A large number of talented and dedicated scientists, 
engineers and, yes, administrators contributed to the construction of the telescope, to the multiple telescope 
and instrument upgrades and to the success of the scientific programs. 
	


 


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