we’llhavea fewyearswarning– we’llseeitcoming.
Whereasif[aninterstellarobject]behavedlikean
asteroidanditdoesn’thaveactivity,youwouldn’t
seeituntilit’sreallyclosetoyou.Thenwewon’t
havea lotofwarning,andthechanceswecan
interceptitareslim.Ifwedidfindonewithenough
time,I thinktherewouldbea verystrongpush
todosobecausescientificallythatwouldbean
amazingopportunity.”
Thatmightsoundfar-fetched,butit’svery
possible.InOctober 2017 wedetectedaninterstellar
objectinsideourSolarSystemforthefirsttime.
Dubbed‘Oumuamua,it’sthoughtthisobject- whichmayhavebeeneitheranasteroidora
comet– hadbeenejectedbya starfromanother
planetarysystemandhadmadethelongtrekacross
interstellarspacetoourownSolarSystem.Itvisited
onlybrief ly,however,andisnowtoofarforusto
visit.ButitcameclosetoourSunlongenoughfor
ustostudyitwithtelescopes.
It’shopedthatatanygivenmomentthere
mightbeatleastoneinterstellarobjectinourSolar
System.Findingthemisdifficultbecausetheycan
beincrediblydimandmoveveryquickly.Butifone
canbefoundwhileCometInterceptoriswaitingat
L2,thenthemissionmaynotgotoa long-period
cometatall.Itmayinsteadattempttointercept
aninterstellarcomet,alsoa historicalfirstand,
arguably,a greatercause.
“Itprobablyhastobe[themostalluring
possibility],”saidDrNicholasAttree,a research
fellowandcometexpertfromtheUniversityof
StirlinginScotland.“Ifyouhada chancetogofor
aninterstellarobjectitwouldbereallyamazingandWhat’sggoingto
be thebbiggestt
breakthhroughh?
“It willbbelike
gettingttoolookk at
atimecaapsulee”
“It consiists of
threespaacecraaft,
afirst ammong
cometarryy
missionss”
MembersoftheComet
Interceptorteamdiscuss
theirbiggesthopesfor
themission©GettyAbove:
Long-period
comets are
thought to
originate in
the Oort Cloud
beyond Pluto“ It would be really amazing to get a feel for
other types of materials that we find out
there in the universe” Dr Ashley King
MatthewKnight,
UniversityofMarylandand
ConsortiumMember
“Tome,the
mostimportant
aspectofthe
missionwillbe
gettingdetailed
observationsof
a ‘new’comet
nucleusforthe
firsttime.All
cometshumanityhasvisitedhave
beenintheinnerSolarSystemfor
manyyears,butCometInterceptor
willgivethefirstglimpseofwhata
cometlookslikebeforeithasbeen
extensivelyheatedbytheSun.It
willbelikegettingtolookata time
capsulefromourSolarSystem's
distantpast.”MarinaGaland,Imperial
CollegeofPhysics,lead
onthemagnetometer
instrumentonspacecraftB2
"Oneexciting
originality
ofComet
Interceptoris
thatitconsists
ofthree
spacecraft,a
firstamong
cometary
missions.Thisenablesmultipoint
measurements,whichareessential
tobuilda 3Dpictureofthegas,
dustyplasmaandmagnetic
fieldenvironmentaroundan
activecometarynucleus.This
willrevolutioniseourviewofthe
interactionofa cometwiththe
spaceenvironmentitencounters
andoffercriticallynewinsightson
howenergy,momentumandmass
aretransferredbetweenthecomet
anditsenvironment."Comet Interceptor