Asteroid could hit Mars

[southsider2k5]

http://www.latimes.com/news/science/la-sci...=la-home-center

 

Researchers say the object, about 160 feet across, has an unusually good chance of plowing into the planet Jan. 30.

By John Johnson Jr., Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

December 21, 2007

 

Talk about your cosmic pileups.

 

An asteroid similar to the one that flattened forests in Siberia in 1908 could plow into Mars next month, scientists said Thursday.

 

Researchers attached to NASA's Near-Earth Object Program, who sometimes jokingly call themselves the Solar System Defense Team, have been tracking the asteroid since its discovery in late November.

 

The scientists, at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in La Cañada Flintridge, put the chances that it will hit the Red Planet on Jan. 30 at about 1 in 75.

 

A 1-in-75 shot is "wildly unusual," said Steve Chesley, an astronomer with the Near-Earth Object office, which routinely tracks about 5,000 objects in Earth's neighborhood.

 

"We're used to dealing with odds like one-in-a-million," Chesley said. "Something with a one-in-a-hundred chance makes us sit up straight in our chairs."

 

The asteroid, designated 2007 WD5, is about 160 feet across, which puts it in the range of the space rock that exploded over Siberia. That explosion, the largest impact event in recent history, felled 80 million trees over 830 square miles.

 

The Tunguska object broke up in midair, but the Martian atmosphere is so thin that an asteroid would probably plummet to the surface, digging a crater half a mile wide, Chesley said.

 

The impact would probably send dust high into the atmosphere, scientists said. Depending on where the asteroid hit, such a plume might be visible through telescopes on Earth, Chesley said.

 

The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, which is mapping the planet, would have a front-row seat. And NASA's two JPL-built rovers, Opportunity and Spirit, might be able to take pictures from the ground.

 

Because scientists have never observed an asteroid impact -- the closest thing being the 1994 collision of comet Shoemaker-Levy with Jupiter -- such a collision on Mars would produce a "scientific bonanza," Chesley said.

 

The asteroid is now behind the moon, he said, so it will be almost two weeks before observers can plot its course more accurately.

 

The possibility of an impact has the Solar System Defense Team excited.

 

"Normally, we're rooting against the asteroid," when it has Earth in its cross hairs, Chesley said. "This time we're rooting for the asteroid to hit."

 

[email protected]

[max power]

"Normally, we're rooting against the asteroid," when it has Earth in its cross hairs, Chesley said. "This time we're rooting for the asteroid to hit."

 

But what about all the wee little martians who will lose their lives?

[Brian]

Are they wanting it to hit just to see what it does to Mars or because we have something against Mars? Do Not Get.

[southsideirish71]

Are they wanting it to hit just to see what it does to Mars or because we have something against Mars? Do Not Get.

 

Whats to like about Mars. Especially with this little guy running around trying to stroke the fires of interplanetary war with his Uranium PU-36 Explosive Space Modulator. Hope the damn Asteroid hits him in his head.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Kid Gleason]

[Balta1701]

Are they wanting it to hit just to see what it does to Mars or because we have something against Mars? Do Not Get.

It would be really really cool, from a scientific perspective, to see an asteroid slam into a planet. Especially if it was a planet not named Earth. We can simulate those type of impacts all we want, but a lot of times it turns out if you want to know everything about what happens when an asteroid hits a planet...you need to see an asteroid hit a planet.

 

Also, if it's big enough, it could pump up our supply of Martian meteorites. Which, until we get people there, would be pretty cool also.

[Balta1701]

Oh, and this would be one hell of a test for how well built those rovers are.

[hitlesswonder]

Oh, and this would be one hell of a test for how well built those rovers are.

The rovers have functioned over 12 times longer than their anticipated lifespan at this point. Whoever engineered them deserves a medal. This could be the end for them though -- even if the asteroid doesn't smack down right on top of them, a dust cloud that reduces the amount of light getting to the surface could keep them from recharging after their batteries drain.

 

[southsider2k5]

It would be an interesting compare and contrast also with the Shumaker/Jupiter impacts. Obviously there will be big differences, just based on geology, but interesting none the less.

[DBAHO]

Just on Mars, from someone who really doesn't know much about space and stuff like that, when do you think we are actually going to have people land on the planet?

 

By the end of this century I would be hoping at least.

[DrunkBomber]

Ben Affleck and Bruce Willis would take care of it

[kapkomet]

Just on Mars, from someone who really doesn't know much about space and stuff like that, when do you think we are actually going to have people land on the planet?

 

By the end of this century I would be hoping at least.

According to George W Bush, by 2030.

[maggsmaggs]

Ben Affleck and Bruce Willis would take care of it

Add to that Robert Duvall and Jon Favreau (Deep Impact.)