Posted on 01/10/2008 11:20:05 PM PST by Aristotelian
PASADENA, Calif. - The possibility of a collision between Mars and an approaching asteroid has been effectively ruled out, according to scientists watching the space rock.
Tracking measurements of asteroid 2007 WD5 taken from four observatories have greatly reduced uncertainties about its Jan. 30 close approach to Mars so that the odds of impact have dropped to 1 in 10,000, the Near-Earth Object Program at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory said in a posting on its Web site Thursday.
Scientists said the best estimate was for the asteroid to pass at a distance of more than 16,000 miles from the surface of Mars, or at worst, no closer than 2,480 miles.
The asteroid was discovered in November. Initial observations of its orbit raised the odds of an impact to as high as 1 in 25 before further refinements came in.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
would have been the event of the decade in science. Would have inspired all sorts of young people to get into astronomy and/or physics...sigh...
I once dated Miss Mars. A little to mecurial for my taste..
Sucks.
Everyone wanted this.
Except the damn asteroid I guess!
yitbos
Space cadet, huh?
Damn.
Dang. There should be an X prize for whoever is able to steer an asteroid into the moon, so that we can see it on Earth. Now that’s astronomy!
No big bang. I can tell you that much.
Bush’s fault!
:)
Even God has a tough time landing stuff on Mars...
was she from Venus?
The prayers of the Martians have averted a terrible disaster. An inspiration to all of us in uncertain times.
Darn, thought that would get Martians to leave and come to our planet. Believe me, little green men could lead Al Gore to a third party victory.
Mars is safe. Earth however is toast. ;O)
Just how big was the asteroid? Could a near-miss move Mars from its accustomed orbit—some?
Anybody know how close Mar’s moons orbit? Those distances would be well within the orbit of our moon.
There may be a possibility of that the asteroid will strike one of Mar’s moons.
It does not appear to present even a remote threat to Earth. It’s orbit brings it within 1.01 AU of the sun, only slightly further than Earth, but its orbit is 0.02 AU above the orbit of the Earth’s at that time.
Its orbit may be perturbed by Jupiter in the future, but for the next century at least, there is no threat from this guy.
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