Experts are growing anxious that Japan's beleaguered space probe Nozomi may contaminate Mars if it happens to collide with the Red Planet, possibly on Dec. 14.
They say there is a roughly 1 percent possibility that the Nozomi, Japan's first orbiter of Mars, will impact the planet due to malfunctions with its electrical system and numerous other factors.
Regulations compiled by the Committee on Space Research (COSPAR), an international organization tasked with furthering space science, stipulate that the chances of planetary collision for vehicles not completely sterilized must be lower than 1 percent in the two decades after their launch.