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Fixing Arecibo & Tracking Near-Earth Asteroids

The main collecting dish is among the world’s largest single-dish radio telescopes. The reflective dish is 1,000 feet in diameter, 167 feet deep, and covers an area of about 20 acres. Photo: UCF
The main collecting dish is among the world’s largest single-dish radio telescopes. The reflective dish is 1,000 feet in diameter, 167 feet deep, and covers an area of about 20 acres. Photo: UCF

It’s been more than a month since an asteroid-hunting telescope in Puerto Rico has gone dark. The Arecibo Observatory’s dish is broken after a piece of scaffolding fell, damaging the surface. So what will it take to fix it? We’ll speak with observatory director Francisco Cordova about the efforts to bring Arecibo back online.

Then, an asteroid is heading our way -- right on election day. Does the cosmic flyby pose any risk to us here on Earth? We’ll speak with our science experts on this week’s I’d Like to Know segment about the possible fly-by and the sensational headlines that get us all looking toward the sky.

Brendan Byrne is Central Florida Public Media's Assistant News Director, managing the day-to-day operations of the newsroom, editing daily news stories, and managing the organization's internship program. Byrne also hosts Central Florida Public Media's weekly radio show and podcast "Are We There Yet?" which explores human space exploration, and the weekly news roundup podcast "The Wrap."