It’s “certainly not physically impossible” to catch up to ‘Oumuamua, Eubanks says. “It’s certainly not beyond our technical expertise.” Such a slingshot-based mission could be carried out with existing rockets such as the Falcon Heavy from SpaceX, he says

Is it possible to catch up to Oumuamua?

To catch up to ‘Oumuamua, the spacecraft would need to travel at speeds of 74,000 to 163,000 miles per hour (120,000 to 262,000 kph). The spacecraft could use traditional chemical engines paired with flybys to catch up to ‘Oumuamua. That is the system NASA often uses for planetary spacecraft in our solar system.

Can we chase Oumuamua?

And he’s shown it’s still possible. Despite ‘Oumuamua having left our Solar system. Project Lyra explores the possibility of sending a spacecraft to chase ‘Oumuamua using an Earth gravity assist to reach Jupiter, which robs the craft of almost all its speed, causing it to drop to the Sun for an Oberth maneuver

What are 3 unique things about Oumuamua that make it a very strange object?

It was the first known visitor from outside our solar system—and it was decidedly odd: it had no bright coma or dust tail as most comets do, it had a peculiar shape, and its small size more befitted an asteroid than a comet

Did Oumuamua speed up?

A new study has offered a more sober explanation – that ‘Oumuamua’s speed-up was due to the release of hydrogen gas as the comet warmed up in the sunlight. ‘Oumuamua (pronounced oh-MOO-uh-MOO-uh) lacks the tail of gas and dust characteristic of many comets

What is Oumuamua and why is NASA terrified of it?

‘Oumuamua is the first confirmed object from another star to visit our solar system. This interstellar interloper appears to be a rocky, cigar-shaped object with a somewhat reddish hue. The object was named ‘Oumuamua by its discoverers. It means “a messenger from afar arriving first” in Hawaiian

Why is Oumuamua mysterious?

Because ′Oumuamua is the first interstellar object ever observed in our solar system, researchers caution that it’s difficult to draw general conclusions about this newly-discovered class of celestial bodies

Will we see Oumuamua again?

Our solar system won’t change its path, but a small asteroid might. But in this case, there’s no indication that Oumuamua will ever pass by our solar system again. It was going too fast, and heading to deep space. You never know how it might loop around stars millions of years from now

How do scientists know Oumuamua is interstellar?

In October 2017 astronomers first spotted the object by chance as it passed through the inner solar system on a slingshot trajectory around the sun that would send it soaring back out to interstellar space

Where is Oumuamua currently?

‘Oumuamua is heading toward the constellation Pegasus and is now far beyond the orbit of Neptune. It is passing through the Kuiper Belt, a ring of icy bodies near the edge of the solar system, and is now beyond the reach of our telescopes. It will never come back toward Earth

Are we chasing Oumuamua?

Interstellar tail chase

I4IS initiated “Project Lyra” – detailing plausible means of sending a space probe to observe ‘Oumuamua – a fortnight after it was discovered. Seven years later, ‘Oumuamua is already far beyond the orbit of Neptune and passing through the distant icy objects of the Kuiper Belt

I4IS initiated “Project Lyra” – detailing plausible means of sending a space probe to observe ‘Oumuamua – a fortnight after it was discovered. Seven years later, ‘Oumuamua is already far beyond the orbit of Neptune and passing through the distant icy objects of the Kuiper Belt. I4IS hasn’t given up yet

In a new blog published this month, Hibberd outlines how existing technology – including the Space X Falcon Heavy and NASA’s Space Launch System – can propel a probe towards Jupiter. The gas giant can then correct the probe’s inertia relative to ‘Oumuamua before falling back towards the Sun for a slingshot into a pursuit trajectory

Hibberd’s latest scenario proposes a plunge to within 10 Solar Radii (about 700,000km) of the Sun’s surface – a distance already proven feasible with the success of the NASA Parker Solar Probe.

“Thus exactly the same heat shield technology (a Carbon-Carbon composite material) can be utilised,” Hibberd tweeted

At the point of closest approach – the periapsis point – a solid rocket booster can maximise the probe’s acceleration as it is slung away by the Sun’s gravity.

Launch opportunities to take advantage of suitable planetary alignments arise in 2030 and 2033. Once in motion, it would take a probe about 17 years to catch up with the rapidly receding interstellar object

Humanity has already sent the Voyager and Pioneer probes outside our solar system. Now we know other things are passing through it.

We’re used to the metaphor of “spaceship Earth” as a little bubble floating about in the hostile terrain of our Solar system. But that idea can be extended to our Solar System as it moves through our galaxy. And our galaxy as it moves through the cosmos

And ‘Oumuamua – with its believed cargo of water, hydrogen and tholins – reinforces the potential of a theory once derided as being “on the fringe”. Panspermia: The notion that the template for life can be “seeded” across the galaxy.

“Every time a mission is sent to a comet or an asteroid, these results always come back – bucket loads of water, hydrocarbons, prebiotic molecules, including those needed for DNA and RNA,” says Gorman. “This stuff is out there. Everywhere.”

Back in October, the announcement that the first interstellar asteroid triggered a flurry of excitement. Since that time, astronomers have conducted follow-up observations of the object known as 1I/2017 U1 (aka. ‘Oumuamua) and noted some rather interesting things about it. For example, from rapid changes in its brightness, it has been determined that the asteroid is rocky and metallic, and rather oddly-shaped.

Observations of the asteroid’s orbit have also revealed that it made its closest pass to our Sun back in September of 2017, and it is currently on its way back to interstellar space. Because of the mysteries this body holds, there are those who are advocating that it be intercepted and explored. One such group is Project Lyra, which recently released a study detailing the challenges and benefits such a mission would present.

The study, which recently appeared online under the title “Project Lyra: Sending a Spacecraft to 1I/’Oumuamua (former A/2017 U1), the Interstellar Asteroid”, was conducted by members of the Initiative for Interstellar Studies (i4iS) – a volunteer organization that is dedicated to making interstellar space travel a reality in the near future. The study was supported by Asteroid Initiatives LLC, an asteroid-prospecting company that is dedicated to facilitating the exploration and commercial exploitation of asteroids.

As 1I/’Oumuamua is the nearest macroscopic sample of interstellar material, likely with an isotopic signature distinct from any other object in our solar system, the scientific returns from sampling the object are hard to understate. Detailed study of interstellar materials at interstellar distances are likely decades away, even if Breakthrough Initiatives’ Project Starshot, for example, is vigorously pursued. Hence, an interesting question is if there is a way to exploit this unique opportunity by sending a spacecraft to 1I/’Oumuamua to make observations at close range.”

What is project Lyra

Project Lyra is a feasibility study of a mission to interstellar objects such as ʻOumuamua and 2I/Borisov, initiated on 30 October 2017 by the Initiative for Interstellar Studies (i4is). In January 2022, researchers proposed that a spacecraft launched from Earth could catch up to ‘Oumuamua in 26 years for further close-up studies

Options suggested by i4is initially (which have now been superseded) for sending a spacecraft to ʻOumuamua within a time-frame of 5 to 10 years were based on a launch in 2021, and required travelling first to Jupiter to conduct a flyby, followed by a close solar flyby at 3 to 10 solar radii, in order to take advantage of the Oberth effect. Subsequent research revealled further launch possibilities, notably in 2030 or 2033, using the same scenario (except the 2030 launch has an additional Vinfinity Leveraging Maneuver), but with a total flight duration of 22 years. Thus, there are still future opportunities for a mission to ‘Oumuamua. 

Furthermore alternative trajectory options were also explored by i4is, all of which utilized the much less technically challenging Jupiter Oberth rather than the previously assumed Solar Oberth. Launch years for these range between 2026 and 2033, depending on the chosen combination of gravity assists leading up to the Jupiter encounter.

More advanced options such as solar, laser electric propulsion, laser sail propulsion based on Breakthrough Starshot technology, and nuclear propulsion have also been considered

What is 1I/’Oumuamua and what is an Interstellar Object?

On October 19th 2017, the University of Hawaii’s Pan-STARRS 1 telescope on Haleakala discovered a fast-moving object near the Earth, initially named A/2017 U1. It is now designated as 1I/’Oumuamua. This object was found to be not bound to the solar system. It has a velocity at infinity of ~26 km/s and an incoming radiant (direction of motion) near the solar apex in the constellation Lyra. Due to the non-observation of a tail in the proximity of the Sun, the object does not seem to be a comet but an asteroid. More recent observations from the Palomar Observatory indicate that the object is reddish, similar to Kuiper belt objects. This is a sign of space weathering.

Initial Expiditous Results of Project Lyra 

After days of intense work, we (i.e. Andreas M. Hein, Nikolaos Perakis, Kelvin F. Long, Adam Crowl, Marshall Eubanks, Robert G. Kennedy III & Richard Osborne) have published some preliminary results on the 8^th November 2017 for reaching the object within a timeframe of a few decades. The paper was published on arXiv and can be accessed here Subsequently, our arXiv paper created a surge of media articles, which can be found below. It was a month or so later, on 15^th December 2017, after these results were published, that the Project Lyra team was contacted by Adam Hibberd who appraised the team (via Andreas Hein) of the findings of his research. This analysis exploited his recent software development, ‘Optimum Interplanetary Trajectory Software’ (OITS). His discoveries using OITS were then incorporated into the paper and a revised version of the paper “Project Lyra: Sending a spacecraft to 1I/’Oumuamua (former A/2017 U1), the interstellar asteroid” was eventually accepted by the journal Acta Astronautica and was published on the 7th of January 2019 (findhere for arXiv preprint and herefor Acta version).

In the paper, we demonstrate that missions to ‘Oumuamua are feasible with current and near-term technologies (Falcon Heavy or Space Launch System launcher, solid rocket motors, and Parker Solar probe heat shield), with an optimal launch date in 2021. However, this launch date would be too soon for developing a dedicated spacecraft, something that usually takes 5 to 10 years for an interplanetary mission.

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