Asteroid Threatens to Hit Mars

A rock is headed Mars way having already passed us.
JPL Animation.
http://www.nasa.gov/mov/206962main_Mars_Asteroid_Animation.mov

Orbit.
http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2007%20WD5&orb=1

Would be interesting if one of the Rovers could track it.  If it hits
maybe one of the current satellites will be able to image the result of
the hit.  That should make the six o'clock news and give folks something
to think about.

For today, Nah, Nah, missed me.

Interesting game of dodge ball we are playing.
Especially when you only see the ball after it just missed you.
Discovered November 20, but closest pass was on November 1 at 7.5 million kilometers.
What team are you betting on?
- LRK -

Thanks for looking up with me.

Larry Kellogg

Web Site: http://lkellogg.vttoth.com/LarryRussellKellogg/
BlogSpot: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/
RSS link: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/atom.xml
Newsletter: https://news.altair.com/mailman/listinfo/lunar-update
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Asteroid Threatens to Hit Mars
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2007/21dec_2007wd5.htm?list965414

*Dec. 21, 2007:* Astronomers funded by NASA are monitoring the
trajectory of an asteroid named 2007 WD5
<http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2007%20WD5&orb=1> that is
expected to cross the orbital path of Mars early next year. Calculations
by NASA's Near-Earth Object Office at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory
indicate that the 164-ft wide asteroid may pass within 30,000 miles of
Mars at about 6 a.m. EST on Jan. 30, 2008.

"Right now asteroid 2007 WD5 is about half-way between the Earth and
Mars and closing the distance [to Mars] at a speed of about 27,900 miles
per hour," said Don Yeomans, manager of the Near Earth Object Office at JPL.

There is a 1-in-75 chance of 2007 WD5 hitting Mars; researchers can't be
more confident than that because of uncertainties in the asteroid's
orbit. If this unlikely event were to occur, however, the strike would
happen somewhere within a broad swath across the planet north of where
the Opportunity rover is.
Snip
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http://planetary.org/news/2007/1221_Asteroid_Misses_Earth_Threatens_Mars.html
Asteroid Misses Earth, Threatens Mars.
by Amir Alexander
December 21, 2007

Designated 2007 WD5, the asteroid was discovered on November 20 by
NASA-funded observers searching for possible Earth-impactors. At that
time of its detection the asteroid had already made its closest pass of
the Earth, closing to within 7.5 million kilometers (4.7 million miles)
on November 1, and was moving towards Mars. The original detection was
made using the 1.5 meter telescope on Mount Lemmon, near Tucson,
Arizona, and was followed up with observations at Kitt Peak, Arizona,
and the Magdalena Ridge Observatory in New Mexico. Taken together, the
observations indicated that although Earth was safe from 2007 WD5, our
smaller neighbor Mars may not be.

Snip
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Ominous Asteroid Threatens Mars
http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2007/12/21/asteroid-mars-nasa.html
Alicia Chang, Associated Press
*Dec. 21, 2007 -- Mars could be in for an asteroid hit.

A newly discovered hunk of space rock has a one 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.
*
Snip
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http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2007-152
Astronomers Monitor Asteroid to Pass Near Mars
December 21, 2007

WASHINGTON - Astronomers funded by NASA are monitoring the trajectory of
an asteroid estimated to be 50 meters (164 feet) wide that is expected
to cross Mars' orbital path early next year. Observations provided by
the astronomers and analyzed by NASA's Near-Earth Object Office at the
Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., indicate the object may
pass within 30,000 miles of Mars at about 6 a.m. EST (3 a.m. PST) on
Jan. 30, 2008.

"Right now asteroid 2007 WD5 is about half-way between Earth and Mars
and closing the distance at a speed of about 27,900 miles per hour,"
said Don Yeomans, manager of the Near Earth Object Office at JPL. "Over
the next five weeks, we hope to gather more information from
observatories so we can further refine the asteroid's trajectory."

NASA detects and tracks asteroids and comets passing close to Earth. The
Near Earth Object Observation Program, commonly called "Spaceguard,"
plots the orbits of these objects to determine if any could be
potentially hazardous to our planet.

Snip
[See image links at web site. - LRK -]
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WHAT THE MIND CAN CONCEIVE, AND BELIEVE, IT WILL ACHIEVE - LRK

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