Chance for a Tunguska Sized Impact on Mars
Friday December 21, 2007
LA Times report that an asteroid may hit Mars on January 30th. The asteroid is roughly 160 feet across, and JPL-based researchers say that it will have a 1-in-75 chance of striking Mars. Those odds are very high for this type of event, and scientists are hoping to witness an impact of a similar scope to the Tunguska disaster. From the LA Times:
"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',".
http://www.latimes.com/news/science/la- ... ome-center
Possible 'Tunguska' on Mars in January
Moderators: MichelleH, Minimalist, JPeters
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Minimalist
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No so long back Mayo the amateurs running the 'Space Watch' system spotted an asteroid very near to us and too late to accurately plot its orbit. It was within 30 hrs of a strike before they had sufficient data to establish that it would miss. Phew!
First people deny a thing, then they belittle it, then they say it was known all along! Von Humboldt
http://www.umich.edu/~lowbrows/reflecti ... erg.1.html
On March 23, 1989, an asteroid about a half-mile wide crossed the Earth’s orbit about 400,000 miles from Earth. If the Earth had been in that same spot a mere six hours earlier, a collision would have occurred. On January 17, 1991, an asteroid estimated to be about 30 feet wide passed within 106,000 miles of Earth. It was the closest “near miss” ever recorded. Smaller objects hit the Earth all the time. Most of them land in oceans or uninhabited areas, unnoticed. But some make headlines such as a small meteorite hitting a car in 1994. On October 9, 1992, a meteorite smashed through the rear end of a car in Peekskill, New York. Nothing was damaged, but the Chevy Malibu.
On March 23, 1989, an asteroid about a half-mile wide crossed the Earth’s orbit about 400,000 miles from Earth. If the Earth had been in that same spot a mere six hours earlier, a collision would have occurred. On January 17, 1991, an asteroid estimated to be about 30 feet wide passed within 106,000 miles of Earth. It was the closest “near miss” ever recorded. Smaller objects hit the Earth all the time. Most of them land in oceans or uninhabited areas, unnoticed. But some make headlines such as a small meteorite hitting a car in 1994. On October 9, 1992, a meteorite smashed through the rear end of a car in Peekskill, New York. Nothing was damaged, but the Chevy Malibu.
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FreeThinker
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Mr. Asteroid, Please Miss the Mars Rovers
I hope if it does hits, it does not wipe out either the Spirit or Opportunity rovers still in action on Mars. Those geeks who designed and built those two little gems did a spectacular job. They initially were only going to last 30 days, but are still going years later. That whole mission has been accomplished for 1.5 billion...chump change when compared to the hundreds of billions annually going to war expenditures. Our priorities are sadly badly out of whack.
Science: the PROOF shall set you free
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Minimalist
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Our priorities are sadly badly out of whack.
Why....you pussy!!!!!!!!!!
(Sorry.....lapsed into George Bush-mode there for a dismal second or two.)
Something is wrong here. War, disease, death, destruction, hunger, filth, poverty, torture, crime, corruption, and the Ice Capades. Something is definitely wrong. This is not good work. If this is the best God can do, I am not impressed.
-- George Carlin
-- George Carlin
Why is that, do we think?Mayonaze wrote: Most of them land in oceans or uninhabited areas, unnoticed
Have we just been extremely lucky up until now? (she asked nervously!)
Ishtar of Ishtar's Gate and the Hanging Gardens of Babylon.
The total surface area of planet Earth is over 500,000,000 sq km, so the chances of a direct hit on any one person, even with a 1 sq km asteroid, are over five hundred million to one against.
Sleep tight Ish.
Sleep tight Ish.
First people deny a thing, then they belittle it, then they say it was known all along! Von Humboldt
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Minimalist
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Ishtar wrote:Why is that, do we think?Mayonaze wrote: Most of them land in oceans or uninhabited areas, unnoticed
Have we just been extremely lucky up until now? (she asked nervously!)
Wear one of these cool helmets, just in case, Ish.
Something is wrong here. War, disease, death, destruction, hunger, filth, poverty, torture, crime, corruption, and the Ice Capades. Something is definitely wrong. This is not good work. If this is the best God can do, I am not impressed.
-- George Carlin
-- George Carlin