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Massive Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico, Made Famous by Carl Sagan, James Bond ‘GoldenEye,’ Collapses

The 900-ton receiver platform reportedly crashed down onto the reflector dish more than 400 feet below at the Puerto Rico research site made famous in “GoldenEye” and “Contact.”

A massive radio telescope in Puerto Rico that was until recently the largest in the world has totally collapsed, according to the Associated Press. The Arecibo Observatory’s 900-ton receiver platform reportedly crashed down on to its reflector dish more than 400 feet below. The telescope was already badly damaged—a cable snapped in August, creating a huge gash on the reflector dish, and a main cable broke in early November. It was built in the 1960s with Defense Department money. The telescope was made famous by Carl Sagan in Contact and the 1995 Bond film GoldenEye—and featured in the climactic final level of the Nintendo 64 game based on the film.