Whidden
Number of posts : 7218
Age : 56
Where I am : THE DARK TOWER
Reputation : 13
Registration date : 2007-01-24
 |  Subject: Mars may be hit by Bruce Willis and ARMAGEDDON  Sun Dec 23, 2007 8:58 am | |
| | Asteroid Could Strike Mars in Early 2008 | By VOA News
22 December 2007 | |
A group of U.S. astronomers say there is a chance an asteroid could hit the planet Mars by the end of next month. Stargazers in Arizona discovered a 50-meter wide asteroid in November that was designated "2007 WD5." Astronomers at the U.S. space agency NASA's Near-Earth Object Office are tracking the object and say it may pass within 48,000 kilometers of Mars by January 30. The astronomers say there is a one-in-75 chance the asteroid will strike the planet on that day. The asteroid is compared to a similar object that struck Siberia in 1908 with the energy of a three-megaton bomb and destroyed tens of millions of trees. NASA officials say if the asteroid does hit Mars, it will do so near the location of its Opportunity rover, which has been exploring the Martian surface for three years. | |
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Whidden
Number of posts : 7218
Age : 56
Where I am : THE DARK TOWER
Reputation : 13
Registration date : 2007-01-24
| | Subject: Re: Mars may be hit by Bruce Willis and ARMAGEDDON Sun Dec 23, 2007 9:00 am | |
| | Big asteroid on collision course with Mars | | | |
| Trendwatch | | By LA Times | | Friday, December 21, 2007 13:53 |
La Canada Flintridge (CA) - Researchers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in La Canada Flintridge, part of NASA's Neart-Earth Object Program, who jokingly refer to themselves as "the Solar System Defense Team", are tracking a 160 foot diameter asteroid that has a 1 in 75 chance of striking Mars. The asteroid, dubbed 2007 WD5, is currently behind the moon. When it emerges in two weeks, scientists will be able to get a better fix on its trajectory and determine the revised probability of impact.
According to one of the researchers, typically the odds they look at for solar strikes are a million to one. Anytime they have something that's 100 to 1 or less, they sit up straight and tall in their chairs and take notice. And whereas normally they hope against the asteroid striking the surface (when Earth is in the cross-hairs), this time they're totally behind the idea of it impacting upon the surface of Mars--especially so with so many NASA assets ready to take front-row pictures.
Currently the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is mapping Mars, and the Spirit and Opportunity rovers are on the surface preparing for a cold winter (see previous TGDaily.com coverage on Spirit and Opportunity). This would be the first time that humans have significant assets in place to observe a potentially devastating crash. In 1908 in Siberia, Russia, a similar sized asteroid broke up in the atmosphere and rained debris over an 830 square mile area, knocking down over 80 million trees. It was the largest impact with the Earth in recent history.
With the thin Martian atmosphere, the asteroid will likely make it all the way to the surface, creating an impact crater 1/2 mile wide when it strikes. NASA will likely be able to get some high-gloss 8-1/2" x 11" photos of the asteroid as it passes through the atmosphere and impacts upon the surface.
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