{"id":7118,"date":"2026-02-28T04:45:22","date_gmt":"2026-02-28T04:45:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/?p=7118"},"modified":"2026-02-28T04:45:22","modified_gmt":"2026-02-28T04:45:22","slug":"harvard-scientist-trashes-wild-proposal-to-intercept-3i-atlas-with-spacecraft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/?p=7118","title":{"rendered":"Harvard scientist trashes wild proposal to intercept 3I\/ATLAS with spacecraft"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<br \/><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Are we hitching our wagon to the wrong star?<\/p>\n<p>Harvard scientist Avi Loeb has slammed a seemingly far-fetched proposal to intercept interstellar comet 3I\/ATLAS with a spacecraft, claiming that we\u2019re putting energy in the wrong places.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIs that what we need to invest our resources in?\u201d the astrophysicist, who has repeatedly floated theories on the space rock\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/01\/09\/science\/cia-can-neither-confirm-nor-deny-existence-of-3i-atlas-record\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">so-called alien origins<\/a>, told The Post. He compared it to an unhealthy romantic obsession, inquiring, \u201cBefore you decide about a long-term commitment, you should ask yourself, \u2018Is this really the object that I want to marry?&#8217;\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Observations of Comet 3I\/ATLAS taken using the Gemini South Observatory.  <span class=\"credit\">International Gemini Observatory\/NOIRLab\/NSF<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The researcher was referring to a <a href=\"https:\/\/arxiv.org\/abs\/2601.02533\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">yet-to-be published paper <\/a>that claimed it was possible to catch up to ATLAS with a probe, allowing us to hitch a ride and explore solar systems other than our own.<\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately, we\u2019d have to act fast. According to the study authors, who include former NASA staffer and Space Initiatives chief scientist Marshall Eubanks, the interception mission would have to launch in 2035 with the hopes of catching up to the intergalactic interloper by 2085, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.space.com\/astronomy\/comets\/a-risky-maneuver-could-send-a-spacecraft-to-interstellar-comet-3i-atlas-heres-the-plan\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Space.com reported.<\/a><\/p>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module aligncenter wp-block-nypost-editor-primary-tag\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>To achieve this sci-fi-esque feat, scientists would need to harness a phenomenon known as the Oberth effect, which involves receiving a speed boost from the Sun\u2019s gravitational field.<\/p>\n<p>This would require the ATLAS interceptor to rev up its engines at periapsis \u2013 the object\u2019s closest point to said gravitating entity, in this case our solar accelerant.<\/p>\n<p>While seemingly far-fetched, Eubanks observed that \u201cevery launch uses the Oberth effect,\u201d although he noted there\u2019s no record of their proposed variation involving \u201ca major rocket burn at closest approach in a flyby.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>3I\/ATLAS observations by NASA\u2019s SPHEREx showing the infrared light emitted by its contents. <span class=\"credit\">NASA\/JPL-Caltech<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Indeed, the probe would have to fly perilously close to the sun like an interstellar Icarus. This would require outfitting our hypothetical hitcher with a sun shield, much like with NASA\u2019s\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.space.com\/40437-parker-solar-probe.html\">Parker Solar Probe<\/a>\u00a0when it came within 3.7 million miles of our light source in 2023. The solar-powered interceptor, meanwhile, would have to get much closer, and like Parker, perform several fly-bys of Venus afterward to attain the right velocity.<\/p>\n<p>If researchers are able to pull this maneuver off, the 3I\/ATLAS interceptor would likely become the fastest spacecraft ever, \u201cby a good measure,\u201d said Eubanks.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>\u201cIs that what we need to invest our resources in?\u201d wondered Loeb. <span class=\"credit\">REUTERS<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>However, Loeb believed that the juice wasn\u2019t worth the squeeze. \u201cThis timescale sounds very long,\u201d scoffed the researcher, claiming that most of us will \u201cnot be alive\u201d by the time the probe theoretically reached ATLAS.<\/p>\n<p>By that point, per Loeb, we would\u2019ve detected \u201chundreds of interstellar objects\u201d that we could pursue rather than chasing ATLAS, which will fly-by Jupiter in March before exiting our solar system forever.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module alignleft\">\n\t<\/aside>\n<p>He calculated that there could be as many as 35 million interstellar objects \u201croughly the size of a person that are within the orbit of the Earth around the south.\u201d \u201cGiven a large sample, we might see anomalous objects that look technological, in which case, definitely visit those,\u201d he declared.<\/p>\n<p>Loeb said that it\u2019d be better to prioritize devising technology to analyze and intercept them rather than stalking ATLAS across the cosmos. He claimed that the powerful telescopes like the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, which <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nsf.gov\/news\/nsf-doe-vera-c-rubin-observatory-launches-real-time\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">began issuing real-time alerts this week,<\/a> could be used to aid in this recon efforts while we could develop propulsion technologies to reach them.<\/p>\n<p>Even Eubanks admitted that our resources could be better spent, declaring, \u201cMaybe, after, say ten interstellar objects have been found, 3I will seem commonplace, and it won\u2019t seem worthwhile to mount an expedition to chase it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The European Space Agency is already planning to debut its\u00a0Comet Interceptor mission\u00a0by 2028 and \u201cpark\u201d it in space, so it can potentially intercept a visitor from beyond.<\/p>\n<p>Loeb likened our ATLAS attachment to dating.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou go to a bar and you see someone attractive and you say, \u2018okay, well, I need to learn more about that person,&#8217;\u201d he said. \u201cBy the time you move, the person left out the door into the dark street. Now, the point is, there are many other people in the bar.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou should date many more people to increase your sample,\u201d he urged, before quipping, \u201cnever get married after a first date.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/02\/27\/science\/harvard-scientist-trashes-wild-proposal-to-intercept-3i-atlas-with-spacecraft\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Are we hitching our wagon to the wrong star? Harvard scientist Avi Loeb has slammed a seemingly far-fetched proposal to intercept interstellar comet 3I\/ATLAS with a&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7119,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7118","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7118","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7118"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7118\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7119"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7118"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7118"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7118"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}