Mars = Bullseye

[Professur]

Asteroid May Soon Slam into Mars
By Alicia Chang
The Associated Press
posted: 20 December 2007
10:32 pm ET

LOS ANGELES (AP) — 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 2004, 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.

I don't know about you, but were I in any position to act, I'd be screaming for funding for a mission to try out one of those fancy suggestions to ensure this puppy doesn't miss. Not only do you get a free shot at testing redirection technology, you get the chance at a massive crater, brand spanking new .. instead of millions of years old.


Source

 

[SouthernN'Proud]

Meh, them Martians won't let it happen. All you people what wanna believe in little green spacemen and all that oughta know that much.

















Martians. :lmao:

 

[Inkara1]

If you redirect that asteroid, you'll make Marvin Martian very, very angry...

 

[Gato_Solo]

All this talk for a 1 in 75 chance. Tis a load of malarkey, I tell ya'.

 

[Professur]

Jupiter 'struck by large object'

The planet Jupiter shows evidence of having being hit by a large object, either a comet or asteroid.

A dark mark has appeared in its atmosphere towards the southern pole.

It was first seen by Australian amateur astronomer Anthony Wesley on 19 July, and was then quickly followed up by others including the US space agency.

Nasa used its Infrared Telescope Facility on top of the Mauna Kea volcano in Hawaii to obtain detailed pictures of the disturbance.

The agency's scientists say the observations reveal a bright upwelling of particles in the upper atmosphere, and a warming of the upper troposphere with possible extra emission from ammonia gas detected at mid-infrared wavelengths.

It is 15 years since Jupiter was famously hit by Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9. It broke up into several pieces as it plunged on to the gas giant.

Scientists had plenty of warning of that impact but this latest event came out of the blue.

Researchers say that if the mark really was caused by a comet or asteroid, it should spread out in the coming days in a predictable way with jet streams .

Source



And they never saw it coming.

 

[catocom]

Buzz said he'd volunteer to go colonize on Mars.