The Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) has completed a mission study for a spacecraft project that could fly by an interstellar comet, offering valuable insights into objects from outside our solar system. The study, which developed the mission design, scientific goals, and payload requirements, was validated by the recent discovery of 3I/ATLAS.
This showed that the proposed mission could have intercepted and observed the comet.With new astronomical facilities expected to lead to more frequent discoveries of interstellar comets, SwRI emphasizes the opportunity to explore bodies formed in other star systems. While an orbit of these objects isn't feasible with current technology, the study confirms that a flyby reconnaissance is both possible and affordable.
The main scientific objectives are to determine the comet's physical properties and composition and to investigate its coma, which will help us better understand the formation of solid bodies in other stellar systems.
