I can’t understate how heartbroken I am having watched the Arecibo Radio telescope fall this week. I still remember the first time I saw it as kid, just towering over the hills. Last time I saw it was in 2003 as a full grown adult, and I still looked at it in awe. It’s a goddamn tragedy.
It is a tragedy because it was such a symbol of pride. It was a symbol that it didn’t matter that you came from an island 100×35 miles wide, great things could be done in that island, and great thing could await you as well. It fed my fascination for science, for wonder, and it had a huge role in convincing me that I would be an engineer one day… and I did.
I’m angry that you were allowed to go down like that and in mourning. Good bye, old friend. You might be resurrected, perhaps looking like the radio telescope in China’s Guizhou Province, with no need for the gigantic mind blowing structure just… magically floating over a mind bending reversed dome. I’ll mourn that, but if it inspires another generation of kids from a small island to think they can be whatever they want… I’m ok with that.