One of the world's largest telescopes, used to look for extraterrestrial life, has been badly damaged in a freak accident.
Puerto Rico's Arecibo Observatory is about three rugby fields wide, and featured in the 1997 Jodie Foster film Contact and 1995's Bond classic Goldeneye.
The University of Central Florida - which operates the facility - says a metal cable snapped last week, tearing a 30m-long gash in the dish.
"We have a team of experts assessing the situation," Arecibo director Francisco Cordova said.
"Our focus is assuring the safety of our staff, protecting the facilities and equipment and restoring the facility to full operations as soon as possible, so it can continue to assist scientists around the world."
LiveScience reports the damage was so extensive, it "smashed through several other cables and platforms that support the dish, causing debris to rain down on the ground below and making it harder for technicians to access the site".
Arecibo has been a key part of the international SETI (Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence) programme, having been used to not only look for signals from outer space, but send them too.
The telescope is also a key part of Earth's defence against incoming asteroids, looking out for rocks and comets that could potentially end civilisation.
Repairs to the telescope, built in 1963, were still underway following the devastation of Hurricane Maria in 2017.
"The facility has endured many hurricanes, tropical storms and earthquakes since it was built 50 years ago," the University of Central Florida said in a statement.
"Through it all, the facility has continued to contribute to significant breakthroughs in space research in the area of gravitational waves, asteroid characterisation, planetary exploration and more."
Arecibo was the largest radio telescope in the world until China built the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope in 2016.
