They say that the rover will be well out of range.
If it hits(odds 1 in 75)it is expected to hit near the equator.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071221/ap_on_...DGt3KmEgrwPLBIF

Thats really cool Drifter, pretty wierd aswell considering i look up at Mars every night...To think there is a Meteor on a collision cource with it is pretty cool, mind you i'm glad its not heading the other way...

SD.....that will be amazing...imagine the before and after pictures we can get......this is an excellent chance to learn about martain geology!!!

a great find!!!!!

It would be spectacular. But with 1 in 75 odds, the chance of seeing that are slim...unfortunately.

It also just goes to show how it could happen to us...Makes ya think doesn't it.....:eek:

A newly discovered hunk of space rock has a 1 in 75 chance of slamming into the red planet on January 30, scientists said Thursday.

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

:cry: Poor Martians they are going to extinct forever,
well if Martian ManHunter avoid the collision.

LOS ANGELES - 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

Fen....more likely how it will happen to us.....but it should fascinating to watch.....after Shoemaker-Levy9 hitting Jupiter in 1994.....we learned a great deal about Jupiter....and now we actually have a probe there to watch.......and maybe we'll learn quite a bit about about martian geology.

we should just watch closely.....and remember it could be us next time.....:eek:

damn here comes the fucking martian refugees lets hope for our sake that the asteroid doesn't. There not taking my job!

Get the popcorn out people, it is now 1 in 25....

Asteroid Impact on Mars: Collision Probability Increased
December 28th, 2007
Author Leonard David

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.

http://www.livescience.com/blogs/2007/12/2...lity-increased/

i shall be keeping my eyes and ears open for more news on this

Is that a joke? Asteroids don't leave radioactive isotopes that just happen to look like a nuclear weapon. Nor do they explode like one.

It didn't say it was, it said equivalent to a 15-megaton nuclear bomb...(i.e the power relased is equal to that of a 15 megaton bomb)....

Also, I think it's an error to label Tunguska a meteor, because I believe the cause of that blast is still disputed.

Edit: 1-10,000 chance, it seems ...

http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news156.html

They can go off with the power, of that I have no doubt, but they do not look the same. It is too bad we can not get a non bias opinion on that 1908 explosion.

You can. It just depends where you look.

SM....it has a few similarities to nuclear and thermonuclear detonations....some of which were not observed until the Hiroshima bomb was detonated.....such as the telegraph trees observed in both places....(both were air bursts).....not all such tests were ground bursts.....the Czar bomb was detonated at 13,000 feet agl with yield of 50 Mt. The few people in the area at the time reported a fire ball and a mushroom cloud after impact, a blast wave in the air and in the ground.....some were even thrown to the ground....(one person was mortally injured as a result).....some people have even proposed it was a thermonuclear airburst from an alien craft...(I still think it was an asteroid or a comet)....but there are still many questions. Had their been a crater such as with some ground test detonations similar to the Castle test series there would be fewer questions.

Tunguska i'm affraid is one mystery that will i fear remain unsolved because of a lack of evidence that was left, and the time that has past, and not to mention the inaccessibility of the region....saying that it would be nice to go and see the area for myself...

Fen.....I agree with you....I'd love to go there as well........we'd just need alot of bug spray....:laugh: