Related papers: Catching 3I/ATLAS Using a Solar Oberth
We report the detection of methanol (CH$_3$OH) toward interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS using the Atacama Compact Array of the Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array (ALMA) on UT 2025 August 28, September 18 and 22, and October 1, and of…
In this work we will create the Secular Light Curve (SLC) of exocomet 3I/ATLAS, using the SLC-Methodology (Ferrin 2010-2023). The SLCs give a throve of new information and allow the comparison of exo-comets with comets of our own solar…
Context: Increasingly, Oort Cloud comets are being discovered at great distances from the Sun and tracked over ever wider ranges of heliocentric distances as observational equipment improves. Aims: To investigate in detail how the original…
Observations of the interstellar object 3I/ATLAS have revealed a strong production of gas and dust near perihelion, together with rapid brightening. The outgassing from the nucleus has led to a detectable non-gravitational acceleration. In…
We present time-series medium-band (R~20-40) observations of the third interstellar object 3I/ATLAS (C/2025 N1) obtained with the 7-Dimensional Telescope (7DT), enabling spatially resolved monitoring of its gas and dust activity from 2025…
Time-domain photometric monitoring is essential for characterizing cometary evolution, particularly for rare interstellar objects with limited observing opportunities. We aimed to characterize the pre-perihelion photometric behavior and…
Water has been identified as a critical resource both to sustain human-life but also for use in propulsion, attitude-control, power, thermal and radiation pro-tection systems. Water may be obtained off-world through In-Situ Resource…
Space exploration is of paramount importance to advancing fundamental science and providing global services, such as navigation and communications. However, today's space missions are hindered by limitations of existing propulsion…
Observations of interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS at 3.8 au show an elongated coma similar to a cometary tail but pointing in the direction of the Sun, possibly the first instance of this type of anti-tail which is not a result of perspective. We…
Solar sails enable missions to observe the solar environment from unique vantage points, such as sustained observations away from the Sun-Earth line; sub-L1 station keeping; high inclination solar orbits; Earth polar-sitting and…
The Earth will pass approximately downstream of the previous position of comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) during 2024 October 10-13. We predict that spacecraft at the Sun-Earth Lagrange Point 1, L1, have a significant likelihood to…
Comets are the most pristine planetesimals left from the formation of the Solar System. They carry unique information on the materials and the physical processes which led to the presence of planets and moons. Many important questions about…
Recently, we witnessed how the synergy of small satellite technology and solar sailing propulsion enables new missions. Together, small satellites with lightweight instruments and solar sails offer affordable access to deep regions of the…
We report a survey of molecular emission from cometary volatiles using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) toward interstellar object 3I/ATLAS carried out on UT 2025 December 22 and 23 at a heliocentric distance ($r_H$) of $2.37-2.41$ au.…
From 01- to 15-Aug-2025UT, the SPHEREx spacecraft observed interstellar object 3I/ATLAS. Using $R=40-130$ spectrophotometry at $\lambda=0.7-5$ $\mu$m, light curves, spectra, and imaging of ATLAS were obtained. From these, robust detections…
In this study we considered a solar sail coated with materials that undergo thermal desorption at a specific temperature, as a result of heating by solar radiation at a particular heliocentric distance. Three different scenarios, that only…
For almost sixty years, solar energy for space applications has relied on inorganic photovoltaics, evolving from solar cells made of single crystalline silicon to triple junctions based on germanium and III-V alloys. The class of…
Comet Interceptor (Comet-I) was selected in June 2019 as the first ESA F-Class mission. In 2029+, Comet-I will hitch a ride to a Sun-Earth L2 quasi-halo orbit, as a co-passenger of ESA's M4 ARIEL mission. It will then remain idle at the L2…
High power Earth and orbital-based directed energy (DE) systems pose a potential hazard to Earth orbiting spacecraft. The use of very high power, large aperture DE systems to propel spacecraft is being pursued as the only known, feasible…
We describe how the ESA Comet Interceptor mission, which is due to launch in 2028/29 to a yet-to-be-discovered target, can provide a conceptual basis for a future mission to visit an Interstellar Object. Comet Interceptor will wait in space…