Historic Achievement: Chinese Probe Documents Interstellar Comet "3I/Atlas" Flyby of Mars

China's Tianwen-1 probe, belonging to the China National Space Administration, successfully documented the flyby of the rare interstellar comet "3I/Atlas" near Mars. This event marks a first of its kind in the history of space exploration.

Scientific Significance

• Rare Comet: "3I/Atlas" is the third confirmed object originating from outside our Solar System, following 'Oumuamua (2017) and 2I/Borisov (2019), making it a high-priority target for major global space agencies.

• Observation Date: The Chinese probe captured the images between October 1 and 4 using its high-resolution camera.

• Challenging Task: The mission succeeded despite the immense difficulty of tracking the comet, which was traveling at a speed of 58 kilometers per second and was approximately 29 million kilometers away from Mars.

• Results: The images received by China's ground stations clearly revealed the comet's nucleus and gaseous envelope (coma), extending for thousands of kilometers, marking a new scientific achievement that strengthens China's position in the deep space exploration race.