[meteorite-list] Odessa Meteor Crater... - more info
From: Jerry A. Wallace <jwal2000_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:01:34 2004 Message-ID: <3D0E301B.34E0C093_at_swbell.net> <!doctype html public "-//w3c//dtd html 4.0 transitional//en"> <html> Folks, <p>I'm sure sorry about the mess-up with that blasted link. I promise to never <br>let that happen again! I'll get it right the first time in the future. jw <br> <p>Hi Tim, <p>Sorry about that. Turns out that the link only worked in MS IE. I shoulda <br>checked first before I linked it. We're evidently a bit quaint about some of our <br>internet stuff out here in the sticks. <p>Here is the full text of that article: <p>Thursday June 13, 2002 <p>By Ian Heald <br>Odessa American <p>The Odessa Meteor Crater Visitor Center is open for business. <p>Construction on the $500,000 state-funded center began last summer. The 5,000-square-foot <br>building is open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. <br>onSundays. It is closed Mondays. <p>Tom Rodman, an Odessa attorney and meteor crater aficionado, said daily attendance at the <br>crater is expected to double from 15 to 30 people per day with the addition of the visitor <br>center. <p>The center is located on Meteor Crater Road, southwest of West Loop 338 and Interstate 20. <p>“It will increase attendance dramatically,” Rodman said. “Attendance will also be helped <br>by the new interchange where you can get directly off Interstate 20 to the Meteor Crater Road <br>at exit 108.” <p>Don Bonifay, county public works director, said the county plans to have a grand opening <br>of the center in the near future, maybe even later this month. The county was waiting for access <br>to Meteor Crater Road from Interstate 20. That access became available this week. Before <br>this week, I-20 travelers were prevented from accessing Meteor Crater Road because there <br>wasn’t a vehicle crossing over the tracks. On Monday, the Texas Department of Transportation <br>completed building an asphalt ramp over the Union Pacific Railroad tracks. Now, any visitors <br>passing through Odessa will have easy access to the center, Rodman said. <p>And after making the trip down Meteor Crater Road, visitors to the center will have plenty <br>to look at, Rodman said. In addition to the actual crater, which is just south of the center, the <br>center has on display numerous meteorites, desert glass, shattered meteorites and tektites from <br>around the world. The center also shows a video with information about meteor craters. <p>The visitor center was originally scheduled to open last August. Construction was delayed <br>early last summer because the county hadn’t submitted all the required paperwork for a $500,000 <br>grant to Texas Parks and Wildlife, said Tim Hogsett, director of recreational grants for TPW. <p>“We waited for some time for the county to give us the information we needed for the contract,” <br>Hogsett said at the time. “We have since done that. Now, everything is progressing satisfactorily.” <br>Some of the paperwork that slowed down the project included copies of the deed to prove that <br>the county owned the land and written proof that construction of the visitor center would not <br>disrupt any utility lines. <p>*********** <p>Not really much info there on the actual meteor crater in the newspaper article, but if you <br>have access to Richard Norton's book, "Rocks From Space", there's an excellent article <br>on the crater, pp. 133-7, 277-8. <p>Or, there's also Harvey Nininger's fine book, "Find a Falling Star", which provides some <br>history on the Odessa Crater from Nininger's own unique experiences with it in 1932 and <br>'35: pp. 89-92, et al. Anyone that has never read Mr. Nininger's book is missing a real <br>treat. I would highly recommend it. He was truly the 'Father of Meteorite Hunters.' <p>If I may be forgiven for using so much e-space, let me just add the first paragraph from <br>the book's introduction written by Fred L. Whipple, Director (1972), Smithsonian <br>Astrophysical Observatory, Cambridge, Mass. <p>"H. H. Nininger and Meteorites go together, like word pairs such as bread and butter, at <br>least for those who study these rare samples of cosmic debris. Meterorites were, indeed, <br>bread and butter for the Nininger family, the first ever to survive by finding, collecting, trading, <br>selling, and exhibiting meteorites. This book is a fascinating autobiographical account that clearly <br>delineates the single-minded purposeful persistence of a man who refused to be diverted by <br>seemingly overwhelming obstacles from pursuing an impossible dream. Nininger's early prophetic <br>vision of meteorites as scientific Rosetta Stones has grown to reality in his later years, a <br>development that he substantially furthered by his missionary effort." ... <p>******** <p>Tim, let me know if there is anything I can further provide to you concerning the Odessa <br>meteorite. I will be linking some good photos (as soon as I take them) of the current <br>scene at the meteorite "crater complex" in the fairly near future. <p>Good Luck, <p>Jerry Wallace <br>Odessa, Texas <br> <p>Tim Heitz wrote: <p>> Hi Jerry, <br>> <br>> I'm very interested in getting as much information as possible about <br>> Odessa Meteor Crater. The link below no longer works. <br>> <br>> Thank You, <br>> Tim Heitz</html> Received on Mon 17 Jun 2002 02:53:15 PM PDT |
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