Chance for a Tunguska Sized Impact on Mars 184
Multiple users have written to tell us of an 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,' Chesley said."
*no signal* (Score:5, Insightful)
Bad for studying Mars? (Score:4, Insightful)
A few years of darkened skies could finish off the rovers, or require better orbiting surveillance equipment, no?
Occluded for 2 weeks??? Bull**** (Score:2, Insightful)
Nothing in solar orbit can stay occluded by our moon for that long. That's for about half of the moon's orbit! If I'm wrong about that, someone please draw me a diagram. *mutters something about lousy science reporting*
*** Ponder
Re:Bad for studying Mars? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Bad for studying Mars? (Score:5, Insightful)
Also, the massive publicity if there was a hit, with the sorts of pictures NASA would get would hugely increase public interest and support in making sure we can predict early enough and prevent the same thing never happens here.
Re:Bad for studying Mars? (Score:4, Insightful)
No extensive dust cloud or anything like that.
Tungusta "disaster"? (Score:5, Insightful)
Most modern industrial projects are a bigger "disaster" in this sense than Tunguska. The event should be referred to as "phenomenon", or maybe just a "boom", but not a "disaster".
Re:Bad for studying Mars? (Score:5, Insightful)
If 2007-WD5 hits Mars it will probably not explode in the thin atmosphere but impact Martian soil and raise huge amounts of dust. Martian dust is fine-grained and lightweight, and can raise high in the atmosphere - as we have seen during the dust storms. So I guess the dust plume would not stay localized, and it could mean trouble for the rovers and even for the Phoenix-lander.
On the other hand the impact-crater would be very interesting to probe!
Re:Why? (Score:4, Insightful)
Oh My GOD!!!! (Score:2, Insightful)
If the crater is a kilometer away... (Score:3, Insightful)
If the crater is a kilometer away, then it's unlikely the rover will be in any state to visit it, or even report its state, and it will have to wait for a new rover mission anyway.