https://www.science.org/content/article/as-famed-arecibo-observatory-shuts-down-its-scientists-face-an-uncertain-future
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At the end of a winding road lined by flowering red flamboyan trees, you can still see the broken remains of the world's largest single-dish radio telescope. The Arecibo Observatory's 305-meter telescope collapsed in 2020, and in October 2022 its owner, the National Science Foundation (NSF), announced that after 6 decades, the site would no longer be an observatory. Instead, NSF plans to transform it into an educational facility. Contracts for up to 90 staff members, including 25 researchers, end on 14 August.
"We're closing out all science activities," says physicist Julie Brisset of the University of Central Florida (UCF), who's in charge of maintenance and research at Arecibo. To scientists who have worked at the observatory, used its data, or mentored local students, it is a painful transition. "It's very sad," says Brazilian physicist Pedrina Terra dos Santos, who has worked at the observatory for 17 years and, like many of her colleagues, is still seeking a new job.
