Have you heard about cosmic travelers? The European Space Agency (ESA) is turning its Mars Express and ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter into comet trackers! 🚀🛰️ From October 1 to 7, these orbiters will keep a close eye on interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS as it swings by Mars, closing in to just 30 million km on October 3. They will be joined by NASA's Psyche mission and China's Tianwen-1 probe for a truly international space party.
First spotted in July 2025 by Chile's ATLAS telescope, 3I/ATLAS is only the third known interstellar object—zooming through our solar system at a mind-blowing 219,000 km/h. While ground-based observatories can follow its furiously fast flight until September, its route near the Sun soon puts it out of Earth's sight.
That is where ESA's JUICE probe steps in! Post-perihelion (November 2-25, 2025), JUICE will be perfectly positioned to capture the comet at peak activity. "JUICE is best positioned for perihelion, when Earth observations are hardest," says scientist T. Marshall Eubanks. As solar heat vaporizes ices in the comet's core, a glowing gas-and-dust halo and tail will reveal its chemical fingerprint.
Scientists hope this space showdown will answer big questions: Do interstellar comets share DNA with those born in our own solar system? ESA believes the data could reshape our understanding of how material travels between stars. ¡Increíble! 💫
Quick Look:
- July 2025: 3I/ATLAS spotted by ATLAS telescope 🌌
- Oct 1-7, 2025: Mars orbiters swoop in around 30 M km 🚀
- Nov 2-25, 2025: JUICE tracks comet at perihelion ☀️
Reference(s):
ESA uses Mars, Jupiter missions to track interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS
cgtn.com
