Episode 653: Catching Interstellar Objects. What If We Could Explore Oumuamua Or 2I/Borisov?

The distances to other stars are depressingly enormous. Sure, it’s incredibly far to get to Mars, Jupiter, and even Pluto, but at least you can design a robotic spacecraft to make the journey and see the science results in your own lifetime. But in the case of other stars, interstellar flight times will take thousands and even tens of thousands of years to send just a robotic mission. Fortunately, the Milky Way has got our back. Other star systems have been hurling comets and asteroids towards the Solar System. All we’ve got to do… is catch them. Our Book is out! https://www.amazon.com/Universe-Today-Ultimate-Viewing-Cosmos/dp/1624145442/ Audio Podcast version: ITunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/universe-today-guide-to-space-audio/id794058155?mt=2 RSS: https://www.universetoday.com/audio Weekly email newsletter: https://www.universetoday.com/newsletter Weekly Space Hangout: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0-KklSGlCiJDwOPdR2EUcg/ Astronomy Cast: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUHI67dh9jEO2rvK--MdCSg Support us at https://www.patreon.com/universetoday More stories at https://www.universetoday.com/ Twitch: https://twitch.tv/fcain Twitter: https://twitter.com/universetoday Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/universetoday Instagram - https://instagram.com/universetoday Team: Fraser Cain - @fcain / frasercain@gmail.com Karla Thompson - @karlaii / https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEItkORQYd4Wf0TpgYI_1fw Chad Weber - weber.chad@gmail.com References: https://news.ucsc.edu/2020/04/oumuamua.html https://public.nrao.edu/news/alma-reveals-unusual-composition-of-interstellar-comet-2i-borisov/ http://www.esa.int/ScienceExploration/SpaceScience/ESAsnewmissiontointerceptacomet https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/niac/2020PhaseIPhaseII/DynamicOrbital_Slingshot/ https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/factsheet/plutofact.html https://arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/papers/1711/1711.03155.pdf https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0SMNucXwgo