Mars Asteroid Impact More Likely Than Before

sheldie writes "The probability of asteroid 2007 WD5 impacting Mars has been revised following further observations. The chance of impact has increased from 1.3% to 3.9%" This is a follow-up to earlier coverage of this asteroid from last week.

Comments

Preview of news media coverage

[bwintx]

"BREAKING NEWS! [SFX: Ridiculously melodramatic sounder]

"NASA now says an asteroid impact on Mars is now three times more likely than previously thought.

"At this rate, the impact's likelihood will exceed 150% in just a few days."

Re:Preview of news media coverage

[Sponge Bath]

I doubt NASA would tell the rovers if there was a chance anyways.

Better to just allow the rover to see a shadow, look up, and emit:
0x68 0x6f 0x6c 0x79 0x20 0x63 0x72 0x61 0x70 0x21

Do your duty, people

[plover]

C'mon, people, it's our duty as annoying geeks to raise paranoia amongst our friends and family.

Tell them that if the asteroid just barely misses Mars that its gravitational pull could actually slingshot the rock straight towards earth! You just don't have to tell them what the chances of that are (astronomical would be an accurate value.)

Lets see how many people who failed math we can get to go hide in caves till it passes. :-)

Is that asteroid

[WormholeFiend]

from Klendathu? /Service guarantees citizenship //Would you like to know more?

Re:Large Object Also Heading For Earth

[AbsoluteXyro]

If 357,000 miles is "VERY VERY close" then I am practically inside Angelina Jolie's vagina, considering my proximity to her and what I assume you propose for varying degrees of closeness.

Re:Wow

[Anonymous Coward]

I've experiments to be run. There is research to be done. On the planets who are still alive...

But what about...

[martyb]

"The probability of asteroid 2007 WD5 impacting Mars has been revised [CC] following further observations. The chance of impact has increased from 1.3% to 3.9%"

But what about 2007 WD40? My bet is that one WILL slip past us! <grin>

Re:Look at it this way...

[cplusplus]

Hey, I'm a "My glass is 3.9% full" kind of guy.

Murphy's Law Re:Taking All Bets

[Alien54]

Actually, Murphy's law says that not only will the asteroid miss Mars, it says that the asteroid miss will be precisely enough to whip the rock around to a new orbit. One precisely timed and angled to aim it towards Earth where it will impact on some particularly inconvenient location. Like the 2008 Olympics, the city of Jerusalem, or something else of political import.