Interstellar Object 3I/ATLAS Forces Scientists to Confront Flaws in Defence Plans

Governments Initiate Largest Planetary Defense Drill in History as Mysterious Interstellar Object 3I/ATLAS Approaches Earth

A mysterious interstellar visitor is barreling toward its closest approach to Earth, and the world’s governments are scrambling.

Interstellar Object 3I/ATLAS Forces Scientists to Confront Flaws in Defence Plans

The familiar script of planetary defence has been torn up. For decades, the globe's foremost space agencies operated under the assumption that the greatest threat to Earth came from within its own boundaries: asteroids and comets born in our solar system, following predictable, well-charted orbital paths. That framework, however, is being dramatically tested by a terrifyingly fast and utterly unpredictable class of object: the interstellar visit…

Planetary Defense Faces a New Reality As Interstellar Objects Like 3I/ATLAS Become More Common

By Samuel Lopez | USA Herald – For decades, planetary defense planning focused on a familiar threat: asteroids and comets born within our own solar system, following predictable paths shaped by the Sun’s gravity. That framework is now being tested by a new class of objects—interstellar visitors like 3I/ATLAS—that arrive from beyond our stellar neighborhood, move faster than most known bodies, and may behave in ways that challenge existing assump…