Asteroid on collision course with Mars
Mars is in danger of being struck by an asteroid at the end of next month, astronomers have calculated.
The newly discovered space rock known as 2007 WD5 has a one in 75 chance of colliding with the planet on January 30. While the probability of an impact is only slim, the odds have been cut from one in 350 when the object was first identified, and they are much shorter than is usual for new asteroids.
If 2007 WD5, which is about 100 metres in diameter, does strike Mars on January 30, it would cause an explosion equivalent to several megatonnes of TNT.
Space special: pictures, aliens and video
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
2007 WD5 is a 50 m (160 ft) diameter Near-Earth object and a Mars-crosser asteroid discovered on November 20, 2007 by Andrea Boattini of the Catalina Sky Survey. It has been estimated by NASA's Near Earth Object Program (NEOP) to have a 1-in-75 chance of colliding with Mars.
clipped from en.wikipedia.org
