Wanda Vázquez allocates $ 8 million for the reconstruction of the Arecibo radio telescope

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Gov. Wanda Vazquez Garced on Monday announced the $ 8 million allocation for the reconstruction and eventual operation of the Arecibo Observatory.

Through an executive order, the governor allocated the money and also declared the area where the observatory was located as a historic area.

The executive order provides that the reconstruction of the observatory is part of Puerto Rico’s public policy.

“The Puerto Rican government is convinced that the collapse of the radio telescope brings a great opportunity to redesign it, taking into account the lessons learned and the recommendations of the scientific community to make it relevant for decades,” Vazquez Garced said in a press conference offered through the official website of the Fortress.

He specified that the budget should cover the removal and disposal of the debris and the design of the new radio telescope.

The observatory’s radio telescope collapsed on 1 December.

“For 57 years, this world-renowned facility has functioned as a research facility with the capacity for scientific discoveries,” the governor pointed out.

During the announcement, the governor was accompanied by the director of the observatory, Francisco Córdova; Gerardo Morrell, Director of Physics at the University of Puerto Rico and Carlos Padín, Professor of Science.

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