Asteroid May Slam Mars In January
Mars could be in for an asteroid hit.
A newly discovered hunk of space rock has a 1 in 75 chance of slamming into the Red Planet on Jan. 30, scientists said Thursday.
"These odds are extremely unusual. We frequently work with really long odds when we track ... threatening asteroids," said Steve Chesley, an astronomer with the Near Earth Object Program at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
The asteroid, known as 2007 WD5, was discovered in late November and is similar in size to an object that hit remote central Siberia in 1908, unleashing energy equivalent to a 15-megaton nuclear bomb and wiping out 60 million trees.
Scientists tracking the asteroid, currently halfway between Earth and Mars, initially put the odds of impact at 1 in 350 but increased the chances this week. Scientists expect the odds to diminish again early next month after getting new observations of the asteroid's orbit, Chesley said.
"We know that it's going to fly by Mars and most likely going to miss, but there's a possibility of an impact," he said.
If the asteroid does smash into Mars, it will probably hit near the equator close to where the rover Opportunity has been exploring the Martian plains since 2004. The robot is not in danger because it lies outside the impact zone. Speeding at 8 miles a second, a collision would carve a hole the size of the famed Meteor Crater in Arizona.
In 1994, fragments of the comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 smacked into Jupiter, creating a series of overlapping fireballs in space. Astronomers have yet to witness an asteroid impact with another planet.
"Unlike an Earth impact, we're not afraid, but we're excited," Chesley said.
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AJ
Also, about 14,000 years ago, Mars' was stripped of it's atmosphere and most likely because of a passing comet. That wreaked havoc on Earth. While this is an asteroid, and not a comet (I really don't think there is much difference with exception to all the hot air...from the astrophysicists), it mainly is small and not large like a moon or a planet. if so, I think we would experience something similar to what took place 4,000 years ago. It is believed by some well known scientists that the magnetic field that stripped Mars of it's atmosphere, also flipped Atlantis into the sea.
Take a look at Planet X when you get the chance. That may very well be what did all the damage back then.
Is there any chance of changing the asteroid's course to the White House lawn?[LOL][HEART]
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