Loading ...Odds of Asteroid Hitting Mars This Month Increase to 1-in-25
Posted on January 2nd, 2008 by ElectroGeek
JPL astronomers from the NASA “Spaceguard” program recently increased the odds of asteroid 2007 WD5 hitting Mars on Jan 30th, 2008 from 1-in-75 to 1-in-25.
The asteroid was first noted due to its potential to hit Earth. Refinements of the trajectory showed that it had already missed Earth, but is in fact headed to within 30,000 miles of Mars. Now scientists are even more interested because we may get a rare chance to see what a 50 meter (164 feet) asteroid can do to the surface of a planet without being in harms way ourselves (although Mars lacks the dramatic tidal wave potential that Earth has).
Full Story Via Wired.com
Filed under: Offbeat News, Science
