Earth_Magazine_October_2017

The area has also played an important role in

America’s space exploration history. You can visit

Lowell Observatory, one of our nation’s oldest astro-

nomical observatories and the place where Pluto was

discovered. And just 70 kilometers east of town is

one of the world’s best examples of an entirely dif-

ferent type of crater: Barringer or Meteor Crater, an

impressive 170-meter-deep and 1.6-kilometer-wide

hollow gouged by a meteor that struck this spot

50,000 years ago while traveling 42,000 kilometers

per hour. The resulting explosion was 200 times

more powerful than the atomic bombs dropped on

Nagasaki and Hiroshima.

A 635-kilogram chunk of the iron meteorite that

caused this damage is on display in the Meteor Crater

Museum, which also houses an exhibit about the

Apollo space program, whose astronauts trained on

the crater floor between 1963 and 1970. Planetary

geologist Gene Shoemaker’s studies of Meteor Crater

laid to rest a long-standing controversy about its

origin and were instrumental in NASA’s and the U.S.

Geological Survey’s decision to establish the Astroge-

ology Science Center in Flagstaff. In 1963, program

scientists blasted hundreds of craters at Cinder Lake,

a volcanic site northeast of Flagstaff, to reproduce

a portion of the moon’s Sea of Tranquility. NASA

used this “moonscape” to train the astronauts and to

test crucial equipment, including the lunar rovers.

There’s no doubt that a trip to Arizona to see its

iconic canyon and cacti should be high on anyone’s

travel list. But while you’re there, reserve a couple

of days to also tour its cones and craters. You’ll be

amply rewarded with magnificent geology that will

expand your notion of Arizona’s diverse landscapes.

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