Meteorite crater in Arizona

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

The Meteor Crater is located roughly halfway between the Petrified Forest National Park and the Grand Canyon, 10 miles from the city of Winslow in northern Arizona.

Location of a meteorite crater in Arizona

Once upon a time very, very long ago (scientists assume that it was 27 thousand years ago), a meteorite fell on the land of Arizona. By cosmic standards, the asteroid was small, only 40 meters in diameter and only 300 thousand tons in weight. The meteorite hit the ground, scattered into debris in the vicinity of 5 km and formed a crater with a diameter of 1200 meters and a depth of 175 meters. It was calculated that in order for a crater of this size to form, the meteorite had to fly at a speed of 69 thousand km / h! The impact was so strong that fragments of the meteorite were found at a distance of up to 10 km! The power of the explosion on impact is estimated at about 500 kilotons, which is 40 times more powerful than the explosion of a nuclear bomb dropped on Hiroshima.

A meteorite crater in Arizona. Photo by NASA

The Arizona Crater (aka Barringer Crater) is one of the largest and best-preserved crater in the world. Scientists discovered the crater only at the beginning of the 20th century, and the local Navajo Indian tribes had long known the location of the crater. The Indians called the crater Devil's Canyon and associated many legends and traditions with it.

"Let the road wind like a gray ribbon …" Road from I-40 to the meteorite crater in Arizona

Nearby views along I-40 en route to the Arizona Meteor Crater

Road and car park at the foot of the Arizona crater

The left side of the crater. It was calculated that in order for a crater of this size to form, the meteorite had to fly at a speed of 69 thousand km / h!

The right side of the crater

There are several interesting stories associated with the crater. So until the 20th century, scientists thought that craters were of volcanic origin, and only in 1902 engineer Daniel Barringer suggested that a crater could be formed as a result of the fall of a large celestial body. Barringer bought a piece of land on which the crater was located and began to excavate, trying to find the body of the meteorite. The excavations were sluggish for 26 years, and Barringer, of course, did not find anything, and could not find anything, because most of the meteorite burned up in the atmosphere, and all that remained was scattered across the surrounding area. Due to a lack of evidence, Barringer's speculation that the craters were meteor tracks was largely abandoned and forgotten, and the excavation was abandoned. Only a few decades later, one well-known American planetary scientist and astrogeologist was able to prove the meteoric nature of the Arizona crater.

Arizona crater. Panorama

Arizona crater. Panorama.

Parts of the Barringer drilling rig still stand at the bottom of the crater. They are almost 100 years old, they all rusted, but they were still left in place as a museum piece for the edification of future generations. Unfortunately, you cannot go down to the bottom of the crater, and I strongly counted on that.

Close-up of the center of the crater. Remnants of Barringer's equipment still rot at the bottom

The Meteor Crater is another example of the American arrangement of historic sites. An excellent road leads south to the crater from I-40. The crater itself from the side looks like a bowl with raised edges in the middle of the Arizona desert. The rampart bordering the crater rises 40 meters. At the foot of the crater, in addition to the parking lot, there is a large museum, which displays pieces of a meteorite, various photo and video materials, magazines and books. Naturally, there is conditioned air, which is very important after the heat of the desert. Naturally, there is a gift shop. Naturally, there is fast food (the Subway restaurant was located in the museum building). If you are too lazy to climb the crater wall, you can take a comfortable lift. Above, along the edge of the crater, there are several viewing platforms with benches and telescopes. Apparently, it is assumed that the typical American, having typed sandwiches with Coca-Cola in Subway, will admire the crater, meditate on the bench and occasionally glance through the eyepiece.

The entrance ticket to Meteor Crater costs $ 15, which is quite expensive. But as it turned out later, for this money, the visitor receives not only a ticket, but also a discount coupon in Subway, which allows him to get a free sandwich when buying a cola. The heat is incredible, and everyone is thirsty, so this service is quite reasonable.

By the way, what is remarkable, the Arizona crater was found to be very similar to the lunar landscape, and it was here that NASA conducted training for all astronauts who were to fly to the moon. The reserve team of Apollo 11 astronauts trained here, as well as Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin themselves, who on July 21, 1969 were the first in human history to set foot on the moon. For this reason, an American flag was erected in the center of the crater.

While I was examining the crater, a whole squadron of military Apache helicopters in camouflage color flew in from somewhere in the south. Following the lead helicopter, the Apaches slowly and imposingly circled the crater three times and disappeared in a southerly direction. A minute later, one of the Apaches returned, hovered for a few seconds over the center of the funnel, then turned around and chased the rest of the group in afterburner.

US Air Force helicopters over the Arizona crater

Well, we got into the car and headed to the Grand Canyon. In passing, Irishka caught sight of a strange animal between the cars in the parking lot, not like a skinny squirrel. However, it was not possible to capture it - it ran quickly in the shadows of standing cars and successfully camouflaged itself.