Exploration Drives are all about doing the unusual, and recently I drove to a special place, which is not made by humans, and neither is it from our planet. It is actually the incredible result of something that came from space, some 50,000 years ago.

Ever since the birth of mankind, we have looked up at the skies and wondered what goes on there. Is there water? Or oxygen? Or any kind of life, out there? Will something from space, or another planet or galaxy, come to Earth? And almost every time something has, it has created a crater.

Today we know of some 190 impact craters that have hit Earth since the beginning of time, and contributed to the evolution of life on our planet. One such meteorite impact crater is in Lonar, which is located in present day Maharashtra, some 150 kilometres east of Aurangabad. And Aurangabad (now known as Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar) is 350 kms away from Mumbai and thanks to the Samruddhi Mahamarg or Mumbai to Nagpur Expressway, you can cover this distance in just 5 hours. Aurangabad to Lonar takes another 2 hours.

While there is a MTDC resort in Lonar, I chose to stay at the comfortable and efficiently run Siddharth The Fern Resort in Jalna, which is enroute and just 100 kms away.  And it proved to be a good decision as the food was excellent and Manoranjan Kumar the Front Office Manager, also went all out to ensure that the stay was both comfortable and enjoyable.

The magnificent hyper-velocity Lonar meteorite crater is the world’s largest and only natural impact crater in basaltic rock, and scientists believe that it was formed about 50,000 years back, when a meteorite strayed from its celestial path and entered the Earth’s atmosphere.

The crash into our planet’s surface had the force of a 65-megaton bomb and apparently lit up the night sky for days after impact. The Lonar Crater is almost circular, and 2 kilometres in diameter, and about 200 meters deep. Inside the crater is a shimmering lake with distinct saline and alkaline water layers with specialized microorganisms, which have been studied by institutions like NASA. Interestingly, the water inside the lake is known to change colour, and scientists believe this is due to the presence of salt-loving microbes that produce pigments.

The conical slopes of the crater are also covered with dense forest, which are inhabited by a number of peafowl, monkeys, wild boar and some deer. The saline and alkaline waters of Lonar, a rare combination for a natural lake, play host to an impressive number of migratory birds too and this area has now been declared as a wildlife sanctuary.

All this makes the Lonar Crater, a multifaceted and matchless marvel with elements of geology, history, architecture, and wildlife. And of course it has this direct connection with the cosmos, as it was born out of the impact with a meteorite.

As going into space is not possible for most of us, like me, you might want to get into your car, and go on your very own “Space Odyssey” or “Exploration Drive” to an impact crater created by a meteorite right within our own country. Drive safe and stay safe.