What’s Next
- October 3: Key ESA Mars orbiter observations as 3I/ATLAS nears its closest distance to Mars.
- November 2–25: ESA’s JUICE spacecraft conducts perihelion monitoring, likely to yield the most comprehensive dataset.
- Post-shutdown: NASA’s role in data integration, public releases, and international coordination remains in limbo until funding is restored.
Should the government shutdown drag on, the U.S. risks being sidelined in one of the most consequential interstellar research efforts in modern astronomy.