Puerto Rico observatory featured in James Bond flick shut down

Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico, which was featured in the James Bond movie “Goldeneye,” has temporarily shut down after its dish was damaged by a broken cable.

According to the University of Central Florida, which manages the observatory with Universidad Ana G. Méndez in San Juan, P.R. and Yang Enterprises, Inc, a support cable broke around 2:45 a.m. on Monday. After snapping, the three-inch-thick cable sliced into the telescope’s 1,000-foot-long reflector dish and created a 100-foot gash.

While the observatory is known locally for its employees’ tradition of dressing up like zombies for a scavenger hunt, as well as a number of galactic discoveries, like a skull-shaped comet which passed by Earth on Halloween 2015, it’s perhaps best-known by sight to fans of the 007 film franchise where it was the site of the climactic showdown between James Bond (Pierce Brosnan) and a vengeful double-agent (Sean Bean).

Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico which was featured in the James Bond movie “Goldeneye” has temporarily shut down after its dish was damaged by a broken cable.

Crews are assessing damage and securing equipment at the facility but there is no timetable for when operations will resume, a UCF spokesperson told CNN.