A metallic explorer meets a wandering visitor.

When NASA launched the Psyche spacecraft toward its metal rich asteroid in 2023, no one expected it to encounter anything unusual along the way. Yet as it drifted through quieter regions of the inner solar system, mission controllers realized Psyche had a clear view of the interstellar comet 3I ATLAS during a brief alignment. The spacecraft’s instruments recorded data that no Earth based telescope could match, catching a rogue object in a rare moment of proximity.



