747: The glorious Arecibo telescope, needing two cables, is decommissioned. Robert Zimmerman, BehindtheBlack.com
Image: This image shows a comparison between a Magellan image (right) and the highest resolution Earth-based radar image of Venus, obtained by the US National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center's Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico. The small white bot in the Arecibo image on the left corresponds to the Magellan image. This portion of a Magellan radar image strip shows a small region on the east flank of a major volcanic upland called Beta Regio. Robert Zimmerman, BehindtheBlack.com; in re: Arecibo, owned by National Science Foundation, wants to decommission the telescope because cables are dangerously failing. The beginning of a new Dark Age.