Researchers using JWST are finding clues about comet 3I/ATLAS' origins. (Image credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Martin Cordiner (CUA, NASA-GSFC); Image Processing: Alyssa Pagan (STScI))
NASA's James Webb Space Telescope is finding clues that are leading scientists closer to understanding the origins of the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS.
What is it?
Comet 3I/ATLAS captured the world's attention when it was discovered nearly a year ago on July 1, 2025. The comet was first spotted by the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS), and is only the third interstellar object every discovered.
The comet swooped through our solar system, passing by Earth at a far (and safe) distance on its tour of our cosmic neighborhood. It is on a long trajectory that will take it out of our solar system, never to return.
In observations from the James Webb Space Telescope, scientists were able to look in the direction the comet as it began moving away from the sun in December of last year. While in close proximity to our star, the sun's heat warmed the comet, making it extra bright and easy to observe.
With this view, astronomers were able to calculate some of the ratios of the chemicals present in the comet. This further highlighted that the object is from out of our solar system, as they found ratios of carbon and heavy hydrogen not found in comets in our solar system.
Researchers described their results in a new paper published June 22 in the journal Nature.
This graph shows some of the differences between 3I/ATLAS and comets found in our own solar system. (Image credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, Martin Cordiner (CUA, NASA-GSFC), Leah Hustak (STScI))
Why is it incredible?
Being only the third interstellar object ever found, people were excited about 3I/ATLAS. They were so excited, in fact, that conspiracies about the object sprouted up quickly. Due to it being from outside of our solar system, some claimed that the comet could be some sort of alien spaceship, similar to the initial suspicions about the interstellar object 'Oumuamua found years earlier.
But with new information coming in from space telescopes, and astronomers eager to understand this object better, these clues are leading us closer and closer to the true origins of this strange comet.
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GOLDEN, Colorado — The moon is in need of good and accurate artists!
As NASA's Artemis program hits its stride, and in a few years "reboots" our moon with a human presence, there's an urgent need to guard against artistic misrepresentations of the lunar landscape, experts say.
We've all seen those alluring lunar renderings of vehicles and astronauts bounding about while setting up equipment and putting in place a moon base.
What's wrong with this picture? Missing in this artwork are small craters, dust, dirty equipment and dirty astronauts. (Image credit: NASA)
Reality versus depictions
"We are telling the public the moon is easy — it is not!"
That's the matter-of-fact warning from Daniel Britt, the Pegasus Professor of Astronomy and Planetary Sciences in the Department of Physics at the University of Central Florida. He's also the director of the Center for Lunar and Asteroid Surface Science.
Britt spoke about and showcased artists' misconceptions during a "reality versus depictions of the lunar surface" talk here at a Space Resources Roundtable, held from June 2 to June 5 on the campus of the Colorado School of Mines.
"I wish I could say that engineers and managers know better, but they don't. We are training a generation of engineers to not worry about terrain. If the artists are getting it wrong, it is our fault. Let's stop fooling ourselves," Britt said.
Well versed in what the lunar surface truly offers, Britt scolded a number of arty accounts of lunar territory promulgated by both NASA and commercial space ventures. He spotlighted what's wrong with those pictures — for starters, small craters and ever-present lunar dust, along with dirty astronauts, dirty equipment and dirty habitats.
Dusting off past moonwalker experiences reveals a dusty future on the moon. (Image credit: NASA/Daniel Britt)
Facts of life
A flat, dustless moon is not the one we are sending Artemis astronauts to, said Britt. Crews will experience coarse terrain, pervasive dust, and a surface unlike anything here on Earth. These are the facts of life on the moon, he said.
The Apollo moon-landing missions learned this first hand. But those astronauts explored equatorial areas. The Artemis program is targeting the lunar south polar region, which will be tough to deal with thanks to the low angle of the sun.
"When you look into the sun, it will be blasting into your face. But at least you'll see the shadow of that crater you are about to trip into," said Britt. "But looking down-sun, you won't see diddly squat."
"There's need to stop deluding ourselves," Britt told Space.com, advocating the creation of a 1-to-10 scoring system for lunar art, with prizes for the worst and best visualizations
"What I want to do is land on the moon way safer and easier," he added, "so you need to ask yourself what's missing from these depictions. We are training the public to think this is easy."
No dust, almost no small craters, no tipping problems. (Image credit: SpaceX)
False impression
To support his concern, Britt spotlighted both Apollo moonwalker-taken imagery and the scenery as projected by artists, be it using paint brush or artificial intelligence-guided computer work.
"The sun angle washes out the rough terrain. Almost all the pictures taken from the surface give the very false impression of a flat, gentle terrain," Britt said. "The reality is that the lunar surface is heavily cratered, rough, very dusty and covered in regolith."
Most Apollo surface images were taken "down-sun" because looking "up-sun" was hard. "This leaves a very false impression of a flat moon with gentle terrain," Britt said.
Why should we care about artist's misconceptions? Because they create false impressions that lunar landings are easier than they actually are. (Image credit: Blue Origin)
Tilt problems
Apollo was pretty lucky, Britt said, observing that several of the six human moon landings experienced tilt problems. For instance, Apollo 14 experienced a 7-degree tilt on landing, and Apollo 15 had an 11-degree tilt on touchdown.
Apollo 11 had to dodge a boulder field. Apollo 12 and Apollo 16 landed on the edge of big craters. "Even small craters can be meters deep," said Britt, recalling problems encountered by astronauts on their descent to the moon.
"The dust went as far as I could see in any direction and completely obliterated craters and anything else … I couldn't tell what was underneath me," astronaut Pete Conrad said during an Apollo 12 debriefing. "I knew I was in a generally good area, and I was just going to have to bite the bullet and land, because I couldn't tell whether there was a crater down there or not."
Similarly, Apollo 16 commander John Young said: "I couldn't judge slope out the window worth a hoot, and that's the truth. Even down low. The ground looks flat, but I'm sure it would look flat if it had been a 6-8 degree slope, too. I don't see any way around that."
Landing on "flat" places on the moon is a dicey situation. This Apollo 15 image shows the 11-degree tilt experienced by that mission during touchdown. (Image credit: NASA)
Getting it wrong
A flat, crater-free, dustless moon is a staple of imagery issued by NASA, the European Space Agency, other space agencies, and even private space firms, said Britt.
"Yes, these are artists' impressions," Britt said, "but somebody is telling the artists what to draw. I love the idea of landing and operating on a moon without dust, small craters, and rough terrain. However, we see the misconception of a flat, gentle moon everywhere."
"Commercial providers are just as bad. No dust, almost no small craters, no tipping problems. Yes, these are artists' impressions, and they are getting it wrong," said Britt. "NASA knows better. All these people should know better, but don't. Let's not fool the public. We owe them better data."
GOLDEN, Colorado — Scientists are engaged in research with an eye toward transforming the cold climes of Mars into a far more habitable place for Earthlings in the future.
One notion proposed is the dispersion of an aerosol meant to help warm up Mars' atmosphere. The idea is projected to be a first step toward terraforming the Red Planet. Also emerging recently as a new field of study is "applied astrobiology," which seeks to appraise what would be needed to create sustainable habitats and biospheres beyond Earth.
Scientists have drawn up a research blueprint for assessing the viability of warming the Red Planet, outlining what it might take to make Mars a place in space where life can thrive. Importantly, that roadmap does not presuppose that warming Mars is desirable. Rather, its purpose is to identify what is required for Mars to be warmed, what it would cost and what could go wrong.
Keep the option open
Edwin Kite, an associate professor of geophysical sciences at the University of Chicago, detailed the plan here at a Space Resources Roundtable, which was held from June 2 to June 5 on the campus of the Colorado School of Mines.
Kite's talk showcased a mission concept prototype to validate aerosol dispersal to warm Mars' atmosphere as a first step toward terraforming the Red Planet.
"Creating sustainable habitats and biospheres beyond Earth is an enormous scientific and technical challenge, but it's one we'll have to surmount if we're going to extend life beyond Earth," Kite told Space.com.
"We do not yet know enough to create a biosphere from scratch," he added. "Applied astrobiology, like planetary science, requires contributions from many disciplines."
Kite said that relatively modest research investments can keep open the option of extending life beyond Earth as the scientific exploration of Mars continues.
The roadmap, Kite explained to Space.com, identifies several approaches to warming Mars. Solid-state greenhouse membranes, he said, offer the nearest-term benefits, with direct applications to moisture farming and life support at human bases on Mars.
Strengthening Mars' natural greenhouse effect might warm large regions of the globe, Kite noted, although many aspects remain to be worked out. Each approach carries scientific and technical risks that research must address, he added.
This artist's view shows potential choices for the scale of human involvement in the future of Mars. Early on, warming occurs only close to human bases. Solid-state greenhouse membranes harvest liquid water from subsurface ice. Orbiting reflectors augment sunlight, and a pilot factory makes engineered aerosols. (Image credit: E.S. Kite et al.)
A centuries-long process
Whether Mars can support a biosphere, however, is unknown. But, if activated, a biosphere on Mars would help sustain large numbers of people in bases beyond Earth, sparking the conditions for a centuries-long process of atmospheric oxygen buildup.
The questions raised by the possibility of warming Mars are numerous. But the immediate unanswered questions are identifiable, Kite suggested, and can be addressed with a focused research campaign.
He acknowledged that a consensus on moving forward requires more data on two fronts: whether Mars could support life in the future, and whether there's life on Mars today.
An approach to warming Mars would be inherently modular, in that it could be done by many sites in parallel, Kite suggested. An aspect of the endeavor may well involve orbiting reflectors for warming intermediate-sized areas, such as human bases.
Prototyping progress
Kite is also a resident researcher at the Berkeley, California-based Astera Institute, which was founded to steer science and technology towards an abundant future. And he's a participating scientist on the mission of NASA's Curiosity Mars rover, which has been exploring the Red Planet since August 2012.
Being scoped out by Kite and fellow researchers is a potential technology demonstration on Mars, an automated payload that would test an aerosol release concept. It would discharge less than 2 pounds (about 1 kilogram) of sub-micron artificial particles and laser track that dispersal to an altitude of roughly 1,500 feet (500 meters), to confirm ascent of the plume into the skies of Mars.
Kite said that dispenser requirements are particularly challenging. For example, researchers will need to show that it works on Earth before launching a demonstration mission to Mars.
There has been "prototyping progress," Kite said, with an experimental setup designed and built for rapid deployment.
To trial-run the particle dispersal concept and plume tracking technology, the plan calls for use of NASA's Planetary Aeolian Laboratory (PAL) at Ames Research Center in California this year. PAL is a unique facility used to support experiments under different planetary atmospheric environments, including Earth, Mars and Saturn's largest moon, Titan.
Experimental test gear here on Earth is designed for rapid deployment on the Red Planet. (Image credit: E.S. Kite)
Filling big gaps
To help evaluate the feasibility of terraforming Mars, Kite points to the need for better maps of subsurface water ice on that world; climate-monitoring orbiters to observe the planet's natural variability; the return of Red Planet samples to Earth for study; and international cooperation.
"Mars sample return will be done by China's space agency. The original plan for their Tianwen-3 mission was to grab some rocks from wherever and then head back to Earth," Kite said. "The new plan is to go around with a helicopter and collect rocks from a wide area. I'm hopeful that they share their Martian samples, allowing all the world's labs to have a crack at them."
Then there's the prospect of an International Mars Ice Mapper, Kite said, a proposed Mars orbiter that's been studied by NASA, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) and the Italian Space Agency (ASI). However, that mission appears at this moment to have been shelved.
"It's a good idea and could always come back," said Kite. "We should search for deep aquifers using electromagnetic soundings — that's the best strategy. We don't know whether there's still liquid water deep underground. There are big gaps in our knowledge about Mars."
If early findings from aerosol release demonstrations on Mars prove positive, Kite said, those results would provide the quantitative basis for "government-scale programs" to evaluate whether extending habitable conditions beyond Earth is achievable, at what cost and on what timescale.
"Even under optimistic assumptions, warming at kilometer scale is at least a decade away, and wider environmental modification would require sustained investment over many decades beyond that," states the recent research paper, which Kite led.
"Relatively modest research investments would keep open the option of extending life beyond Earth as Mars’ scientific exploration continues," Kite and his colleagues concluded.
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