You don’t need to cancel any Martian vacation plans. The chances of asteroid MD5 colliding with the Red Planet are now 1 in 10,000, according to Near Earth Object Program experts. The image below shows the envelope through which the asteroid will likely pass on Jan. 30, when it intersects Mars’ orbit.

Earlier estimates had the envelope overlapping Mars itself, and experts as late as yesterday had given MD5 a 1 in 40 chance of hitting the planet. Better telescopic observations of MD5’s path have narrowed the size of the envelope, reducing the odds of a collision.

January 11th, 2008 | Tags: asteroid, collision, MArs, MD5 | Category: Astronomy | Leave a comment