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S7* · 03/01/2008 04:10 AM

LiveScience Wrote:The chance that a rogue mini-world — asteroid 2007 WD5 — will smack into Mars on January 30th has increased from 1.3 percent to 3.9 percent.

That’s the new estimation from officials at the Near Earth Object Program at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), stemming from several sky watching teams in Alaska, New Mexico, and in Arizona.

“The impact probability resulting from the recent orbit refinement has increased to a surprising 3.9 percent…about 1 in 25 odds,” explain JPL’s Near Earth Object Program website, updated today regarding the asteroid meets Mars altercation.

Still, there remains an uncertainty, although a Mars impact is still possible. However, the most likely scenario in the weeks to come is that more observations of the asteroid will allow that uncertainty to shrink - so that a Mars impact is definitely ruled out.

The JPL website notes that, in the unlikely event of an impact, the head-on collision would take place on January 30th at 2:55 a.m. Pacific Standard Time, with an uncertainty of a few minutes.

Nothing to set your watch by…but a big event in our time.

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Well, Mars represents the Ego... put it into perspective............ its going to be something... if it does it..

Dupain · 03/01/2008 05:45 AM

wait is this serious? Mars will really crash on earth January 30th 2008? =O.O=

UncertainGod · 03/01/2008 06:36 AM

I suggest re-reading the original post, a Rogue body has a 3.9% chance of hitting mars, not us.

Dupain · 03/01/2008 06:46 AM

so if it hits mars then mars has more chance to have a collision with earth? i got confused by the theoric words O.O

Kaiser · 03/01/2008 06:51 AM

simple, an asteroid has 3.9% of hitting mars and making a big hole in it, end of story

diego · 03/01/2008 06:52 AM

lol that's it?

I thought it was something REALLY important, like doomsday was coming.

Dupain · 03/01/2008 06:57 AM

me too =o.o= but...if an asteroid makes a big hole in Mars...wouldn't the gravity system will be completely debalanced!? and if that happens wouldn't earth end in the Sun or just move away from the Sun?

diego · 03/01/2008 06:59 AM

Dupain Wrote:me too =o.o= but...if an asteroid makes a big hole in Mars...wouldn't the gravity system will be completely debalanced!? and if that happens wouldn't earth end in the Sun or just move away from the Sun?

he?

if something happens to the sun that would happen.

UncertainGod · 03/01/2008 07:01 AM

It's not that important except that if it does hit it will definitely cause us to go have a look at a shiny new 0.5 mile wide crater located quite a way north of the Opportunity rover. The odd's have now slid out to 28/1 though.

Dupain · 03/01/2008 08:02 AM

hmmm but...every mass causes gravity... the whole planets play a balance in our system doesn't it? like yeah the sun is really the biggest in all our planets. but isn't Mars also acting it's gravity on earth even just a little? if Mars was to dissapear wouldn't it cause a little lost in balance in the system, like Earth will stray from its normal orbit and eventually end into another planet or the Sun itself?

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