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Writing to then-NASA administrator Bill Nelson, they complained that NASA’s senior leadership wasn’t doing enough to find potentially hazardous asteroids, that they had no plan to replace the collapsed Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico — a radar facility that, among other things, helped characterize asteroids — and seemed to be dawdling with NEO Surveyor’s budget unnecessarily.

"Even years after the Arecibo Observatory's collapse, its data continues to unlock critical information that can advance our understanding of the galaxy and enhance our ability to study phenomena like gravitational waves."

The Arecibo Observatory not only served the scientific communities that used it — planetary scientists, radio astronomers and atmospheric researchers — but was also a source of inspiration and pride for Puerto Rico.

After weathering hurricanes, earthquakes, budget cuts and a pandemic-induced shutdown, the iconic Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico closed its doors on 14 August.

“The Arecibo Observatory was a great research site, but it also had many educational programs already, without being called a centre for education and research,” says Héctor Arce, an astronomer at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut.