Boiler Plate 29A

This blunt cone never left Earth, and that was the entire job. Built in 1965, Boiler Plate 29A was a full-scale stand-in for an Apollo command module, used to test whether the real capsules would right themselves and float after splashing down at sea. The command module was the only part of the Apollo stack to come home, riding back through the atmosphere in a sheath of fire. The capsule sits at Meteor Crater fittingly: Eugene Shoemaker trained Apollo astronauts to read impact terrain on the rim just outside before they ever walked the Moon.

What the plaque says

This test capsule, named Boiler Plate 29A, never flew into space. Instead, the capsule was built in 1965 to test the systems that helped Apollo space capsules float upright after splashdown at sea. The test capsule represents an Apollo command module, the control center for astronauts who traveled to the moon. The command module is the only portion of the Apollo spacecraft that returned to Earth, glowing red as it entered the Earth's atmosphere much like a meteor.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Winslow — 18 mi
  The town an Eagles lyric made famous — and the home of La Posada, the last great railroad hotel and Mary Colter's finest work, at the southern doorway to Hopi and Navajo country.
• Walnut Canyon National Monument — 26 mi
  Sinagua cliff dwellings in the limestone — the Hisatsinom

More markers nearby

• Barringer Meteor Crater — steps away
• Toth Whispering Giant — 18 mi
• Standin' on the Corner Park — 18 mi
• A City in Motion: Modern Modes — 18 mi