31/ATLAS and NASA have become the focus of intense scientific scrutiny after new tracking data revealed that the rare interstellar comet is accelerating and subtly changing course in ways that standard gravitational models cannot fully explain.
As 31/ATLAS races through the inner solar system and prepares to head back into deep space, NASA scientists say the object has turned into a real-time experiment in comet physics, interstellar materials, and planetary defense.
NASA Detects a Puzzling Acceleration
According to NASA’s latest tracking data, interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS—formally classified as Comet 31/ATLAS in some coverage—has picked up speed after passing its closest point to the Sun. The increase is not trivial. Measurements show the comet’s velocity climbed to roughly 244,000 kilometers per hour, with some analyses translating that figure to about 152,000 miles per hour as it continued outbound.
What caught scientists off guard is that gravity alone does not appear to explain the change.
