Huge Asteroid May Collide with Mars

December 21st, 2007

An asteroid that is about the size that hit Siberia, here on Earth, in 1908 has about a 1 in 75 chance of crashing into Mars on January 30. The impact in 1908 unleashed energy equivalent to a 15-megaton nuclear bomb and wiping out 60 million trees. May not sound like a great chance, but according to scientists this probability is quite different as it relates to the normal probablilities they deal with.

“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.

Of course the impact on Mars wouldn’t be something we feared, but something that scientists are excited about. They have never witnessed an asteroid impact with another planet before.

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 were to impact the planet, it is expected to leave a crater the size of Meteor Crater in Arizona.

The asteroid is expected to land near the Martian equator, and have no impact on the Mars Rover. It is said to be outside of the impact zone.

The Martian atmosphere isn’t as dense as ours so this impact wouldn’t have the major loss of surface view like we would if you were looking in from outside. Considering we haven’t found ANY form of life on Mars to this date I doubt anyone is going to be needing any mesothelioma treatment if such an impact were to occur.

The fact that Mars is close to the Earth this will be a great opportunity for scientists to study a potential asteroid impact on another planet.