Two Probes Will Dive into the Tail of an Interstellar Comet ⚡ экспресс
In October-November 2025, the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS will pass ahead in the solar wind flow relative to the Europa Clipper and Hera spacecraft. The close coincidence of the comet’s hyperbolic trajectory with the ecliptic plane creates conditions for the probes to likely plunge into its ion tail. It is predicted that Europa Clipper will be inside the tail between October 30 and November 6, while Hera will be from October 25 to November 1, 2025. Characteristic changes in solar wind parameters and magnetic field structures enveloping the comet (magnetic draping) are expected to be recorded. These observations could become the first direct in-situ sampling of material from an interstellar comet.
Stretched for millions of kilometers, the tail of Comet 3I/ATLAS consists of rarefied gas and microscopic dust grains. In late October 2025, two Earth probes—Europa Clipper and Hera—will plunge into it. Neither was designed to encounter a comet: Clipper is headed for a moon of Jupiter, Hera for an asteroid. But their trajectories accidentally intersected the tail.
Onboard instruments will capture particles of dust and hydrogen, and measure how the stream of charged particles from the Sun changes.
Composition analysis will tell us whether other worlds resemble ours. It’s like dipping a sample from an unfamiliar ocean. These data will turn hazy guesses about other planetary systems into measurable chemistry.
🎯 Comet 3I/ATLAS was discovered in 2025—it’s only the fourth interstellar object ever spotted by humans, after the asteroid ‘Oumuamua.