did the asreoid hit mars !!or not....

dave, crestline, ca.

if mars doesnt get hit by the asteroid there is a chance of the asteroid to hit with earth.

nikhil, noida, india,up

Update this article. The chance of a hit has been refined to 1 in 25. The debris is only 150 feet across and stoney, Humans would survive that.

Susan King, Oklahoma City,

to Mike Smith,

The article reads, "Mars is currently the brightest object in the night sky after the Moon". This is true. CURRENTLY, being the key word, Mars appears just below the Moon in the night sky and is the brightest star in the night sky currently.

Virginia, Tucson, Arizona, USA

Trevor - There's nothing nonsensical at all, nor careless in the calculations. The impact zone is an extremely thin ellipsoid 1,000,000 km long by 1,200 km wide. So there is a strip that intersects the planet that delineates the allowable places 2007 WD5 might hit on the surface of Mars, and Opportunity is just outside that band ... but there's only a 1-in-75 chance (given current observed knowledge) that the asteroid will go through that portion of the ellipse.

Timothy R., Boulder, Colorado, USA

@ Gregory Baker,

Uncertainties in the trajectory of 2007 WD5 lead to a probability of 1:75 impacting Mars on Jan 30.

However, the velocities of Mars and 2007 WD5 are known far better. Hence, the -moment- of the 1:75 chance collision can be predicted very accurately. If Opportunity is at the "backside" of Mars then, it is therefore completely safe.

Gert, Utrecht, Netherlands

The Last line in your article concerning the possible asteroid impact on the planet Mars says"Mars is currently the brighterst object in the night sky after the Mooon". I've always thought that the planet Venus aka. "the Morning Star and also the Evening Star "was much brighter than Mars.

Mike Smith, Tunnel Hill ,Georgia, U.S.A.

any chance it will miss, and hit Washington DC instead?

iamhe, San Marcos, CA

Yet again, I thank my lucky stars that I'm not a martian.

Tom, London, England

Well, if there IS life on Mars, it's in trouble now!

Mikey, Bromley, Kent

How can one reconcile the 1 in 75 chance of hitting Mars with the claims that the impact would be probably "close to the point where Nasa's Opportunity rover has been exploring", and that "Opportunity is safe, however, as it lies outside the projected impact zone"?

Does this nonsense reflect the care taken in calculating the probabilty of impact or the care taken in compiling the report, I wonder?

Trevor, Cairo, Egypt

Dinosaurs are alive and well and you can buy cooked portions at any KFC. Just because they aren't as large as they used to be doesn't mean they aren't there.

Kidd Garrett, Bristol, UK

How about we pay a little more money to see that it actually does happen? I'd much rather observe a demonstration of an asteroid collision with Mars as the test subject than have to wait for a real one to happen here on Earth.

Frank Martin, Roseville, Ca

I bet 2007 WD40 simply slides off any planet it hits

John Ledbury, Kings Lynn, England

I just read Les, Ramsgate comment. It amazes me how you could jump from 'cataclysm'... the end of the dinosuars to DNA and its ability to withstand time. DNA can survive given the right conditions (amber for example) but I think you believe that because there is no DNA from fossils(?!) that this somehow give 'credence' to the folk lore that is Christianity. I suggest you compare the 'Book of the Dead' - an Egyptian text found in many places that can be carbon dated - with many of the sections of the Old Testament. You will be amazed how much of this text was used by the monks who scribed the bible - the word of God - fairly succinctly proving that the Bible is nothing more than a hotch potch of age old beliefs regurgitated to take folk like you for their money. Good luck on using your brain - a fairly large undertaking for one whose brow stick so far forward.

Paul Sullivan, Chester,

Let's see - they just discovered this one in November... possible chance to hit Mars. Then there's Apophis (Asteroid 99942 - not the character from Stargate) that's estimated to pass 18,300 miles over the mid-Atlantic on April 13, 2029. Not to mention all the other NEOs and earth crossers that seem to have been found lately, not just cause we're looking. Seems like we're about to travel through a "rough patch of space".

Hope nothin' hits.

Kevin, Annapolis, MD

Excellent news. I'm looking forwards to some decent distant photographs, though I hope the present space missions come out safely.In the event that it misses is there any chance of the trajectory being altered swinging it our way, requiring some close ups being taken instead.

paul, eastbourne,

If it misses Mars were next in line better get some bottled water.

lisa, gibsons BC, canada

I understand George Bush has already determined this asteroid is a weapon of mass destruction and has elevated Asterix to the top of his most wanted list.

Scamp, Aberdeenshire,

"Opportunity is safe, however, as it lies outside the projected impact zone. "

If the odds of impact are only one in 75, then they haven't computed the trajectory well enough to predict an impact zone!

It would be fun to see, though. The last couple of nights I've stood outside, looking at the Moon through it's high winter clouds, and seeing yellow Mars in the sky. As Robert Heinlein noted, "Hit anything hard enough, you get sparks."

Gregory Baker, Odenton, Maryland, USA

"The impact, however, would be tiny in comparison to that of the asteroid that struck Chicxulub in Mexico 65 million years ago, which caused a worldwide cataclysm that is thought to have wiped out the dinosaurs."
Why do folk not report concerning the dinosaur DNA that is being found? It is universally acknowledged that DNA could not survive many thousands of years never mind many millions of years. It is about time that some credence was given to the widespread folk-memories of dragons.
N.B. This is not connected with any pet religion-hate.
PS The name dinosaur was only invented quite recently - it does not have its own built-in antiquity.

Les, Ramsgate, Kent

Sorry. Didn't see "night". Pardon me.

Roberto Veri, Toronto,

No problem we can send Bruce Willis to save Mars

Roberto, Palma de Mallorca, España

How about we all pay more taxes in order for Nu Labour to stop this collision from happening? Bit of a long shot I know but I'm sure some politicians have already thought of this idea.

Cromwell, Leeds , ENGLAND

If this object were to hit Mars i wonder if the impact would be large enough to eject any debris into space? If so, would this debris be something that earth might pass through in the future - giving us a nice meteor show of our own to watch?

Neal, Hollywood, CA

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sai, guntur, india

Curious that those who get so upset about the dangers of global waming do not seem to recognise the real possibility of global catastrophe from asteroid collision with earth.

BrummyDoug, Birmingham, England