深空视界
深空视界
We have the means today to fly a spacecraft by an interstellar object visiting our solar system, a new study concludes — and we could have done it already with comet 3I/ATLAS.
Flyby reconnaissance of objects is "feasible and affordable," scientists with the Southwest Research Institute (SWRI), who led the study, on Wednesday (Sept. 3).).
"The trajectory of 3I/ATLAS is within the interceptable range of the mission we designed," Matthew Freeman, the study project manager and director of space instrumentation at SWRI, said in the statement.
Unfortunately, however, getting a probe into orbit around objects like 3I/ATLAS for more detailed study isn't currently possible, given how fast such visitors move relative to bodies native to our . Interstellar objects are on "hyperbolic" trajectories, meaning that they are entering and exiting the neighborhood instead of circling our sun.
SWRI's newly publicized mission idea is a proposal and does not imply that such a spacecraft will be funded by or any other entity. But SWRI argues that laying the groundwork now would allow for scientists to one day access comets from other solar systems with relative ease — without leaving our neighborhood..
Flybys of interstellar objects would "give unprecedented insights into the composition, structure and properties of these objects, and it would significantly expand our understanding of solid body formation processes in other star systems," Alan Stern, SWRI associate vice president and leader of the study project, said in the same statement.
Stern is perhaps best known for being the principal investigator of NASA's mission, which was the first to fly by in 2015 before venturing on to do studies of other small bodies in the . (Stern also himself with in 2023, on a research-focused mission.)on.)