Meteor Crater

It was a busy day! I'll start with Meteor Crater...

Since we were staying at Meteor Crater RV Park, we got a discount card for visiting the site that was just 5 miles down the road.

On the way, we could see the crater in the distance.

We got to the visitor's center in time to join the guided tour of the rim, so we started our visit with that.

Scientists estimate that the meteorite that impacted here was probably 150 feet across and weighed several tons. It was composed of iron and nickel, and they can recognize fragments of the original meteorite from rocks with those elements.

Our tour guide, Kim, invited the kids to touch this "fragment" of the meteorite that was discovered several miles away.

The crater it created was estimated to originally be 700 feet deep (it is now 550 feet deep). The crater is 4000 feet across. To give you an idea of scale, the Washington Monument could be placed on the floor of the crater and its top would be eye level for visitors on the rim. The floor of the crater could hold 20 football fields, and the sloped sides could provide seating for 2 million spectators.

A panorama view of the crater

Do you see the white area in the middle? When Daniel Barringer came to the site in 1902, he was hopeful to be able to mine iron from what was assumed to be a huge iron meteorite buried under the floor. Unbeknownst to him, the meteorite totally disintegrated during the impact, so there are only small bits left at the crater of the meteorite. So all he got from the drilling was pulverized Coconino sandstone.

To give you perspective - this is zoomed in on the white area. There is a piece of mining equipment on the left center - it is 15 feet long and 10 feet high.

A further close-up allows you to see a flag and an figure of an astronaut at the closest corner of the fence around the drilling area. NASA used this area for training astronauts preparing for the moon landing to understand which moon rocks to collect to give scientists the greatest information about what had created the craters on the moon. The figure of the astronaut is life-sized (6' tall).

Another view of the crater

After the rim tour, we visited the museum. There was a LOT of information about this crater and meteors and meteorites in general.

This made-up headline highlights 3 meteorite impacts. Even though it implies Alabama as the site, only the second story told of an impact to a house in Alabama. The first story indicated that two meteorites have hit in Wethersfield, Connecticut.

http://articles.courant.com/2012-04-17/community/hc-meteorite-hit-wethersfield-twice-20130215_1_meteorite-display-case-wethersfield

This may make you wonder, as it did me, how often do meteorites hit the Earth. This display had the answer:

Another display told of scientists who are mapping and "Potentially Hazardous Objects" that may come close to Earth in the future. The closest that is anticipated will come within 241,000 miles in August 2027. Mark your calendars to be watching!

We enjoyed our visit to Meteor Crater. If you're in the area, check it out! And if you're in an RV, stay at their park and ask for the discount card!