Rieskrater Museum

Geschichte

The Rieskrater Museum, sometimes known in English as the Ries Crater Museum, focuses on meteors and their collisions with Earth. The museum is housed in a 16th-century barn in Nordlingen, Germany which was part of the medieval city's center. The area (Nördlinger Ries) is the location of a meteor's impact with Earth c. 15 million years ago and it might have been a double impact (Steinheim crater is nearby). It has been recognized as such since the early 1960s.The museum's collection includes a genuine moon rock from Apollo 16 on loan from NASA in return for using the Nordlingen crater for training for the Apollo 14 astronauts due to its similarities to a moon crater.The museum is affiliated with the nearby Geopark Ries (UNESCO - International Network of Geoparks), whose mission is to protect the crater.The museum opened in May 1990 and received its millionth visitor on 15 December 2012.