Earlier this year, astronomers spotted a mysterious interstellar object, dubbed 3I/ATLAS, hurtling through the solar system at a blistering speed.
It's only the third confirmed interstellar object to have ventured into our solar system — all over the past few years, owing to more sophisticated space-observing technology — and scientists are eager to have a closer look.
Besides detailed observations by the Very Large Telescope in Chile and NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, Harvard astronomer and alien hunter Avi Loeb called on using the space agency's Juno spacecraft to intercept the object's path to get a first-hand look.
Loeb, who made headlines last month after suggesting 3I/ATLAS may be an alien probe sent by an intelligent civilization, argued in a blog post that the "close encounter of 3I/ATLAS to Jupiter provides a rare opportunity to shift Juno from its current orbit around Jupiter to intercept the path of 3I/ATLAS at its closest approach to Jupiter."
The unique opportunity caught the attention of Representative Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL), who sent a letter to acting NASA administrator Sean Duffy, encouraging the agency to follow Loeb's suggestion.
"It is recommended that NASA conduct a study to assess how much fuel is left in Juno's engine, and I support an extension of the Juno mission at least until mid-March 2026 at a cost of about $15M per 6 months from the current expiration date of mid-September 2025," the letter reads.
Experts, however, were quick to throw cold water on Loeb's plan, which happens to resemble the plot of Stanley Kubrick's 1968 sci-fi epic "2001: A Space Odyssey."
"Juno does not have enough fuel to visit 3I/ATLAS," Penn State astronomy professor Jason Wright tweeted. "Its main engine is also malfunctioning. [Loeb] does (or should) know this because his team was in touch with [Juno principal investigator Scott Bolton]."
"An extended mission for Juno would be awesome, but a visit to 3I/ATLAS makes no sense," he added.
The spacecraft was launched almost exactly 14 years ago, entering a polar orbit of Jupiter roughly five years later. It was only planned to study the planet until 2018, but it has since doubled the length of its originally planned mission.
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