3I/Atlas is Defying the Laws of Gravity and Picking Up Speed as Rep. Anna Paulina Luna Asks NASA to Release More Data

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There's not a bigger story going on in our corner of the universe right now than a massive, radiant, white hot, celestial object that has burst onto the scene, confounded the experts, is defying all our understanding of what is possible, and is only accelerating its pace the more we study it. 

And this time, I'm not taking about Drake Maye.

I'm talking about 3I/Atlas:

And as it's made its pass around the sun, 3I/Atlas has only behaved stranger:

Daily Mail -  The interstellar object racing through our solar system has been caught unexpectedly picking up speed as it moves away from the sun and closer toward Earth. 

NASA has confirmed a small extra 'kick' moving the mysterious visitor dubbed 3I/ATLAS off its predicted path, which can't be explained by the sun's gravity.

The sun contains almost all of the solar system’s mass, meaning its weight pulls all the planets together in a predictable motion scientists can measure, but these new movements by 3I/ATLAS appear to defy our laws of gravity.

The object, which many scientists claim is a comet, set a record as the fastest space rock entering the solar system ever detected by humans at more than 130,000mph.

After reaching its closest point to the sun on October 29, known as perihelion, its speed has now soared to approximately 152,000mph.

While NASA believes the sun's gravity is mainly responsible for the speed boost, scientists are having a harder time figuring out what has caused 3I/ATLAS to noticeably shift away from our home star.

If it were an ordinary comet, the heat of the sun would be causing the icy cold space rock to melt and shoot out jets of gas trapped inside, potentially pushing the comet in a different direction.

It should be noted that 3I/Atlas is the size of Manhattan and comprised mostly of nickel. Which doesn't exactly make it a ball flying over Earth's fence and shattering one of our planetary windows. Avi Loeb told Joe Rogan that's enough mass to wipe out a continent. And since we've only got seven, we can't afford to lose any. (But if we do, Australia is the choice, right? Are we all in agreement on that?) So there can't possibly be any bigger priority for NASA at the moment. I mean, it's been 55 years since the last time they put anybody on the moon. And 90% of the rockets going up around the globe are being put there by Elon Musk? So what else does the lab coat crowd have on their plate that's more important than this?

But what is NASA doing? Putting their palms up, shrugging their shoulders, and giving us the Idunno thing like the agent at the gate who can't tell you why there's no seat for you on the flight. Even though these are literal rocket scientists. Begging the question: What exactly are we paying you nerds for? 

Fortunately, there are still some people in the halls of power who are demanding answers. Someone who I just so happen to have spoken to a couple of times. And whose name coincidentally enough, is the Latin word for "moon.":

Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna is calling on NASA to come clean with what they've learned from those very expensive pieces of hardware we paid for:

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NY Post - “I write to request the release of specific observational data related to 3I/ATLAS, recently captured by NASA missions,” Luna wrote. “This information is of great importance to advancing our understanding of interstellar visitors and their interaction with our solar system.” 

This comes as the comet exhibited signs of non-gravitational acceleration and appeared “bluer than the sun” while flying by our local star, causing Harvard scientist Avi Loeb to speculate that it could have an alien craft “engine.” 

The lawmaker specifically called upon the space agency to release the images that the HiRISE camera aboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter snapped between October 2-3. 

She also requested “supplementary data” from the spacecraft in question, the Perseverance Rover, and “other Mars missions that may have detected unusual activity near Mars around or after October 3, 2025, when 3I/ATLAS passed within approximately 30 million kilometers (18.6 million miles) of the planet.”

Elsewhere in the letter, Luna implored the space agency to keep close tabs on ATLAS, which is the third-ever interstellar object recorded in our solar system. 

“I encourage NASA to fund additional observations of 31/ATLAS by the Juno mission near Jupiter, utilizing all available instruments, including its radio sensors,” she wrote. “Observations from this vantage point could yield valuable insights into the object’s composition, trajectory, and possible interaction with the solar environment.”

Loeb praised Luna for taking the initiative in a recent post on Medium, writing, “We all owe a debt of deep gratitude for the visionary support displayed by Representative Luna to frontier science through her letter.”

Professor Loeb is of course right. We should all be grateful that someone in DC is doing their job and demanding answers. There's a gargantuan metallic projectile of unknown origin whizzing through our inner solar system acting in defiance of all known laws governing such things. And we can't afford to be kept in the dark about it. We can worry about sending probes to other planets and getting back to the moon on the Artemis mission some other time. Right now we've got a planet killer flying around in violation of natural laws and we deserve answers. 

Though to be fair, I'll give NASA credit for one thing. At least they did the right thing and gave us 3I/Atlas' size according to what geographic location it's the size of: