NASA Drilling For Meteorite Clues In Own Backyard

The Department of the Interior is drilling a hole in NASA's back yard. But officials at NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, VA, don't mind.

By Space Daily Editorial Team · Editorial process

Published October 1, 2000 · Updated March 15, 2026

The Department of the Interior is drilling a hole in NASA’s back yard. But officials at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, VA, don’t mind. This National Research Laboratory sits on the edge of a huge crater where both agencies are collecting geological data from an ancient extraterrestrial event.

Thirty-five million years ago, a two-mile-wide bolide (meteor or comet) hit the tip of Virginia’s Eastern Shore. When it struck, the fireball reshaped the land, disrupted the existing water table, and dislodged deeper sediment to higher levels across a 56- mile-wide area.

Written by

Space Daily Editorial Team

The Space Daily Editorial Team produces content across our two editorial pillars: space industry news and Mind & Meaning. We cover launches, missions, satellites, defense, and the technology of getting humans to space, alongside the psychology of ambition, isolation, and meaning under extremes. Articles reflect our team's collective editorial process, source verification, drafting, technical review, and editing, rather than a single writer's work. Space Daily takes editorial responsibility for content under this byline. For more on how we work, see our editorial policy.