Cabo Cañaveral, Florida – A kite from another star system will pass near Mars on Friday while a fleet of spacecraft points to its sights to the interstellar visitor.
The kite known as 3i/Atlas will pass to 29 million kilometers from the red planet, its closest approach during its route through the interior solar system. Its dizzying speed: 310,000 kph.
Both satellites of the European Space Agency around Mars are already pointing their cameras to the comet, which is only the third known interstellar object that has gone through our path. NASA’s satellite and rovers on the red planet are also available to help observations.
1 /12 | Deborah Martorell had a reception “from beyond.” Deborah Martorell participated this afternoon in a press conference upon arrival at the Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport. – Supplied
Discovered in July, the kite does not represent any threat to the land or its neighboring planets. It will approach the sun more at the end of October. Throughout November, the ESA Juice spacecraft, which addresses Jupiter and its icy moons, will monitor the kite.
The comet will make its closest approach to Earth in December, moving to 269 million kilometers.
The Observations of the Hubble Space Telescope place the code core in no more than 5.6 kilometers in diameter. It could be as small as 440 meters, according to NASA.
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