Wait, so this object is going to pass quite close to Jupiter, Mars, and Venus? And the Juno probe, which was planned to be decommissioned soon anyway, could potentially be maneuvered to follow and get close to the object? Kind of uncanny and kind of a science fiction plot, but fun to think about.
Avi Loeb is a crank who no-one should be taking seriously. Juno absolutely can not flyby 3I/Atlas. See this reddit thread: https://old.reddit.com/r/nasa/comments/1mkcli7/nasa_told_to_...
When he claimed Oumuamua was a solar sail remnant I thought "Neat idea, let's wait for further observation." Then we discovered what it actually was and properly understood how it's shape gave us the reflection characteristics that it did.
He was simply wrong. I didn't think Avi was a crank, just that he put out an interesting guess that happened to further his solar sail work.
Now... Yes, he's a crank.
"People say he is a little beside himself, or rather, if he has any such Thing as Brains, they are really crackt."
I don't think any probe can do anything but stand there as the object zooms past.
But if it gets so close to Mars, presumably Mars probes already in orbit can get a closer look?
The wikipedia article has orbit animations:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:3I_ATLAS_animation2.webm
It definitely gets surprisingly close to Mars and Jupiter.
editorialized title.
submitted: Sharp Hubble Images Confirm 3I/Atlas as Comet
original article: NASA Probe Could Intercept Interstellar Comet, Scientists Say