METEOR CRATER - This would not have been a good place to be standing 50,000 years ago.
Not unless your goal was to be vaporized.
The site, near Winslow in Northern Arizona, was smashed to smithereens by a huge meteorite that slammed into the Earth at about 26,000 miles an hour.
Evidence of the colossal collision remains today in the form of a crater that's 2.4-miles in circumference and 550 feet deep.
Meteor Crater, which is on private land, is open to the public. Visitors can get views of the great gash in the Earth from overlook points, tour a meteor museum, and take a guided hike along the crater rim.
A COLLISION COURSE
Here are some facts on the creation of Meteor Crater - from tour guides, the museum and brochures available at the site:
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• The meteorite was about 150 feet across and weighed several hundred thousand tons.
• It slammed into a rocky plain with an explosive force equal to some 20 million tons of TNT.
• Almost instantaneously, more than 175 million tons of limestone and sandstone were blown out of the ground.
• One measure of the size of the crater: It could accommodate 20 football games being played simultaneously on its floor, with more than 2 million fans watching from the sloping sides of the big pit.
GET A LOOK
Observation decks near the crater visitor center provide good views.
A guided hike along the crater rim is included in the price of admission.
Museum displays include the largest discovered fragment of the meteor, weighing more than 1,400 pounds.
IF YOU GO
• Get to the crater: From Tucson, take Interstates 10 and 17 north to Flagstaff, or travel by other routes to Winslow. From Flagstaff, drive 35 miles east on Interstate 40 to Exit 233 and a road leading to the crater. From Winslow, drive 20 miles west on I-40 to the exit.
• Hours: 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily. Closed Christmas Day.
• Admission: $15 for visitors 18 to 59, $14 for those 60 or older, and $8 for youths 6 to 17. Kids 5 or younger get in free.
• Information: Go to www.meteorcrater.com or call 1-928-289-2362.
DID YOU KNOW
Apollo astronauts trained at Meteor Crater in the 1960s and early 1970s to prepare themselves for inspecting craters on the moon.
Contact reporter Doug Kreutz at dkreutz@azstarnet.com or at 573-4192.
