A big win for science and the University of Central Florida was announced this week.

  • UCF to manage Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico
  • It's the most powerful single-dish radio telescope in the world
  • Radar system gathers information about planets, moons, asteroids

Starting in April, UCF will manage the most powerful single-dish radio telescope in the world and it’s located in Puerto Rico.

The process to manage the Arecibo Observatory started months ago. Led by Dr. Ray Lugo, director of Florida Space Institute at UCF, staff submitted a proposal to the National Science Foundation which was currently in charge of the observatory.

For Lugo, this win is personal.

"I was actually living probably less than 15 miles from Arecibo when it was being built,” he said. 

The Arecibo Observatory first opened in 1963 just north of the island. Almost 50 years later, Lugo is back in Puerto Rico with UCF as they transition into managing the 1,000-foot radio telescope.

"The plan we have is to try to find what are some opportunities, some new science that we can perform with that incredible instrument,” said Lugo. 

The observatory's radar system gathers information about planets, moons, asteroids and comets.

Prior to Hurricane Maria, many thought the observatory would shut down due to lack of funding and resources. That’s when the National Science Foundation decided to open it up to proposals and UCF stepped right in. 

"We hope that our students will be able to go there and use the observatory and that students from Puerto Rico will be able to come here and that will have a good exchange of students and information and resources,” said Dr. Elizabeth Klonoff, UCF Vice President for research. 

After Hurricane Maria, the observatory suffered some damage but nothing that couldn’t be fixed. Lugo says there's much to do with what people know as "El Radar de Arecibo."

"It's a 50 year old diamond in the rough and you know we got lots of opportunities to polish this diamond and really create something different and better and still support the primary mission it was built for,” Lugo said. 

UCF will partner with the Universidad Metropolitana de Puerto Rico and the engineering company Yang Enterprises based in Oviedo, Florida, to manage the site starting April 1.