Mars Collision Called Off

On January 30, an asteroid is going to come pretty close to Mars. Earlier, there was thought to be a 3.9% chance that it would collide with Mars, which is pretty high in astronomical terms. Such a collision would have been a boon to scientific research, as it would have kicked up lots of elements from beneath the surface crust, and we have the Mars Reconaissance Orbiter, the 2001 Mars Odyssey, the Mars Express, and the two Rovers with front row tickets. Unfortunately, the probability has since been downgraded to about 0.01%, so it will almost certainly just be a fly-by.