Mars in path to get creamed by asteroid – 1 in 300 chance
An asteroid similar to the one that flattened forests in Siberia in 1908 could plow into Mars sometime in the next few weeks.
Researchers attached to NASA’s Near-Earth Objects Program, who like to call themselves the Solar System Defense Team, have been tracking the asteroid for days.
The scientists, based at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in La Cañada Flintridge (Los Angeles County), put the chances that it will hit the Red Planet at about 1 in 300. That’s better odds than any known asteroid has ever had of hitting Earth, except for the Siberian strike, the scientists said.
The unnamed asteroid is about 160 feet across, which puts it in the range of the famous Siberian rock. The largest impact event in recent history, that explosion felled 80 million trees over an area of 830 square miles.
We’ll get to get a good look at what happens when a large asteroid strikes a planet.
Heads up Mars Rover2, incoming…
… except for the Siberian strike
and the KT impact that killed the non-avian dinos
and the Mars sized object that hit the early Earth and sent up enough debris to create the Moon
I haven’t read the article yet. I hope that they qualified that statement a bit better.
I’m all for it. Those Martians have been asking for it for a while now.
3… I think they meant to say in all of RECORDED history.
I like that they have to specify that La Canada is in LA County.
Radio news reports are saying that there’s a 1-in-75 chance of impact, and that it will produce a crater the size of Meteor Crater in Arizona. That would kick up quite a bit of dust too. I expect we’ll be getting more Mars fragments raining down on Antarctica in a few thousand years. Better send up a Hoover-bot to collect all that debris.
“the Solar System Defense Team, have been tracking the asteroid for days.” Martian FEMA will be right there on the job after the impact. You’re doing a heckuva job, Greenie.
Am I the only one that finds it discomforting that there is only a few days notice before impact? If this were heading for Earth, there would be good cause for worry. Maybe this will kick NASA into gear and do something actually useful for a change, like figure out a response to this kind of event, instead of wasting Billions and Billions yearly on the utterly useless and ridiculous ISS.
#9 – I thought of the same thing. That could have been earth and with a few days notice some part of the planet would have been fucked.
#9 “I thought of the same thing. That could have been earth and with a few days notice some part of the planet would have been fucked.”
Oh, let’s see….
1st choice: Somewhere in the neighborhood of the Persian Gulf.
2nd choice: District of Columbia
:)!
I’ve got it! Use the ISS as a shield! Or at least a cue ball… #9 is right!
#9 – This is how it will probably happen if one is about to strike Earth. Only so much of the heavens can be searched for these type of objects and lets face it, the government really doesn’t consider it a priority when it comes to funding. More then likely, the populous wouldn’t even be told of such an event. It would just happen.
There is a 1/75 chance of an impact. That means there is more than a 0.98 probability of the asteroid missing and everyone going home disappointed. Although, depending upon the asteroid’s orbit, there is always the earth. Hopefully, it will wipe out some of those racists around the Chicago suburbs.
NO DATE OF IMPACT…
The odds could be as small as 1 in 30 after another 2 weeks of observation. Whatever the outcome, a photo of the asteroid and Mars in the same frame will be spectacular, and very tricky to plan and execute. Since Mars will be orders of magnitude brighter than the asteroid, it will have to be a composite photo.
If we all clap our hands and wish real hard, maybe we can divert it into a direct hit? Just to get the idea across, I vote they name it “Tinkerbell” and have the cameras ready for impact.
And you thought Shoemaker-Levy was fun.
http://www2.jpl.nasa.gov/sl9/