| All that is missing from this lunar landscape are the astronauts. In fact, NASA uses this site for training because the topography closely resembles that of the moon. The crater interrupts the rocky, desertlike plain that stretches out around Winslow, Arizona, in the American Southwest. This cosmic scar, discovered in 1871, is 558 feet (170 m) deep and three-quarters of a mile (1.2 km) in diameter. It is the point of impact of a meteorite that collided with the Earth 50,000 years ago at a speed of 39,000 miles per hour (64,000 kph). The shock created by the impact of this mass of ferrous metal, some 160 feet (50 m) in diameter, would have resulted in an earthquake measuring over 5.5 on the Richter scale. The falling meteorite would also have caused a rise in temperature and atmospheric pressure that would have destroyed all life within a radius of 2.5 miles (4 km).
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