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Sedan Crater
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The Sedan crater
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| Location: | Area 10, Nevada Test Site |
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| Nearest city: | Mercury, Nevada |
| Governing body: | U.S. Department of Energy |
| NRHP Reference#: | 94000183 |
| Added to NRHP: | March 21, 1994[1] |
Sedan Crater is the result of the Sedan nuclear test and is located within the Nevada Test Site. The crater was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on March 21, 1994.[1] The crater is a man-made object that can be seen from earth orbit with the unaided eye.[2]
The crater is the result of the displacement of 12 million short tons (6.5 million cubic yards) of earth.[3][4] Over 10,000 visitors per year[4] visit the crater through free monthly tours offered by the U.S. Department of Energy, National Nuclear Security Administration Nevada Site Office.[5]
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The 1,280 by 320 ft (390 by 100 m) crater was created on July 6, 1962 by a 104-kiloton-of-TNT (435 TJ) nuclear explosion.[4] Because the craters at the NTS had features similar to the topography of Moon craters, Astronauts for Apollo 14 visited Sedan in November 1970. Astronauts for Apollo 16 and 17 also trained at the NTS craters in 1971 and 1972[6] Of the first 12 Americans that walked on the moon, 11 of them trained at the Nevada Test Site.[7]
| Maximum depth[4] | 320 feet | 100 meters |
| Maximum diameter[4] | 1280 feet | 390 meters |
| Volume[8] | 6.6 million cubic yards | 5 million cubic meters |
| Weight of material lifted[4] | 12 million short tons | 10 million tons |
| Maximum lip height[8] | 100 feet | 30 meters |
| minimum lip height[8] | 20 feet | 6 meters |
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