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Meteor Crater - Arizona


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7 minutes ago, allardjd said:

Is the light grey spot down in the crater in the center in the second shot a building?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meteor_Crater#/media/File:Barringer_Crater_bottom_crop_inset.jpg  Closeup of old mine shaft at the bottom of the crater. Note astronaut cutout and flag attached to fence (inset)  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meteor_Crater

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Now that's interesting.  Thanks.

 

Reading the article and a couple of other associated links, it seems the owner of the land was attempting to make a profit by mining the iron from the meteorite.  That proved impractical for several reasons.

 

Interesting story in the Wiki article about a couple of commercial pilots (who should have known better) who flew down into the crater in a C-152 and couldn't get back out, despite attempts at a circling climb.  Eventually they stalled and crashed in the crater but survived with injuries.  Parts of the aircraft remain there.

 

John

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I was under the impression the one fellow, Berrenger I think was his name, was trying to prove that the creator was cause by a meteor and not a volcano. I guess I should read more about it.:th_blush:

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I believe he was proved right - it was a meteor but he'd done his financial calculations based on his own estimate that the meteor weighed something like 100 million tons.  A later, more astute estimate put the weight at around 300,000 tons, so nowhere near what he thought.  Given that and the fact that much of the mass was vaporized on impact, what was recoverable by mining was far, far less than he'd expected.  He eventually went bust, losing most of his money and a lot of his investors' money as well. 

 

John

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31 minutes ago, dodgy-alan said:

One hell of a big hole.

 

If I'm remembering what I read correctly, the estimated size of the object was "only" about 150' diameter.  Glad it was way before my time.  Must have been spectacular.

 

John

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