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Thursday, October 28, 2010

Photo: Asteroid May Hit Mars Next Month


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This Martian crater in the planet's northern Elysium Planitia—a volcanic area—is a little more than twice the diameter of the crater that would result from an asteroid hit in January 2008.

There's currently a 1 in 75 chance the asteroid will collide with Mars.

The crater pictured here was formed by the impact and subsequent explosion of a meteorite.

Photograph courtesy NASA/JPL/MSSS