Friday, December 28th, 2007
Asteroid Heading Toward Mars

The arrow shows the predicted path of the asteroid on Jan. 30, 2008, and the orange swath indicates the area it is expected to pass through. Mars may or may not be in its path. Image credit: NASA/JPL
NASA astronomers are monitoring an asteroid--named 2007 WD5--that is headed in the direction of Mars. The 164-foot wide asteroid is traveling at about 28,000 miles per hour. New data observation data shows that the space rock has a 1-in-25 chance of colliding with the red planet, scientists say. We'll find out why astronomers are hoping for impact.
Guests
Donald Yeomans
Manager, Near Earth Object Program
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Pasadena, California
Related Links
Segment produced by:Flora Lichtman
Listen:
Friday, December 28th, 2007
- Asteroid Heading Toward Mars
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Wildlife Safari
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South Pole Telescope
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What Would You Do For Science?
Elsewhere on Sciencefriday.com
Tracking Near-Earth Objects
Turmoil in Planetary Exploration?
Mars Update



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