Arecibo Telescope may be gone, but it will forever live in MSFS

An iconic symbol of the 20th century, the Arecibo Radio Telescope suffered catastrophic structural damage just a few days ago, and is forever broken beyond repair. It was an invaluable scientific tool for decades, but after being affected by hurricanes and earthquakes in recent years, the structural integrity of the Telescope was compromised, which lead to two cable breaks in November, followed by the colapse of the support structure, antenna and dome assembly on December 1st. It’s gone.

Now, if you were ever curious to see how Arecibo looked like from the air in MSFS, you may have been disappointed. The default scenery does absolutely no justice to the impressiveness of the structure. Fortunately, if not just for nostalgia sake, you can now fly over Arecibo and have a sense of what it might have been in real life, thanks to the excellent (and free!) work by ekre.

As usual, this is a simple mod and easy to install, and it will dramatically change a tiny portion of the world, but a very cool one indeed. And you can even try to land on the dish, for fun’s sake (yes, we tried…). It’s quite the challenge really, to land and takeoff there, and you shouldn’t feel bad for it now that it’s been decommissioned.

In the end, it’s a realistic depiction of the whole thing, and it’s as impressive as you would expect. Just approaching the location and seeing it in the middle of the jungle is a joy, and it may very well be the most realistic visit you will ever have.

Don’t forget to check our Freeware section for the best free addons for Microsoft Flight Simulator!