Doomsday comet could hit Mars in 2014

Image credit: NASA/JPL

A massive comet heading towards Mars is providing a stark reminder of the dangers we face from space. In the wake of the recent Russian meteor more people than ever are now aware that death from above can and does happen. In a further demonstration of how deadly objects from space can be, a massive comet is heading towards Mars with a small chance of hitting it in 2014. The comet is believed to be anywhere between 9 and 30 miles across, an absolute civilization killer if such an object were to ever hit the Earth - by comparison the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs was only 6 miles wide. Recent events have sparked a heightened interest in developing methods to deflect potential threats from space,
this week Iowa State University's Asteroid Deflection Research Center proposed a $500 million mission to use nuclear weapons to protect the Earth from a large impact. Other suggested methods include the use of solar sails, gravity tractors and lasers to try and nudge an approaching asteroid out of the way. It sounds like an "Armageddon" sequel, set on Mars instead of Earth: A supermassive doomsday comet is heading toward the planet in 2014, and there's nothing anyone can do about it. Not even Bruce Willis.

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