NASA Will FINALLY Releases 3I/ATLAS Images After Delay

Tomorrow, November 19th, at 3 PM Eastern, NASA will hold a live briefing at their Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, to share long-awaited images of the interstellar object 3I/ATLAS. The images, captured by the HiRISE camera aboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, promise to offer the clearest views yet of this mysterious visitor from beyond our solar system. According to NASA, the images will provide approximately three times better resolution than those captured by the Hubble Space Telescope back in July, with a spatial resolution of 30 kilometers per pixel.

The briefing will feature four key NASA officials: Associate Administrator Amit Kshatriya, who has spent two decades working on projects from the Space Shuttle to the International Space Station; Nicola Fox, Associate Administrator for the Science Mission Directorate; Shawn Domagal-Goldman, acting director of the Astrophysics Division; and Tom Statler, lead scientist for solar system small bodies. According to NASA’s announcement, their assets give the United States unique capabilities to observe 3I/ATLAS almost continuously as it passes through our celestial neighborhood using both spacecraft and ground-based observatories.

3I/ATLAS represents only the third confirmed interstellar object ever detected passing through our solar system. Discovered on July 1st, 2025, by the NASA-funded ATLAS Observatory in Chile, 3I/ATLAS is traveling at 58 kilometers per second, significantly faster than previous interstellar visitors Oumuamua and Borisov. The object made its closest approach to Mars on October 3rd, passing within 19 million miles of Mars, before swinging around the Sun on October 29th. It will make its closest approach to Earth on December 19th at a safe distance of 170 million miles, posing no threat to our planet.

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However, the release of these images has sparked controversy due to significant delays. The HiRISE images were captured in early October, yet over a month passed with no public access to the data. Florida Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna sent two separate letters to NASA’s acting administrator Sean Duffy, pressing the agency to release the images. According to NASA’s response, a government shutdown that began just days before the images were captured created bureaucratic obstacles to their release. The shutdown ended on November 15th, yet the images will not be released until November 19th, leaving a four-day gap that remains unexplained. Harvard astrophysicist Avi Loeb, who has been advising Luna on the matter, described this as a missed opportunity for scientific insight.

This delay has raised questions about NASA’s transparency, particularly when compared to the agency’s handling of other unexplained phenomena. In September 2023, NASA held a briefing on Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP), emphasizing their commitment to transparency and shifting the conversation from sensationalism to science. However, according to observers, the agency provided limited information despite a year’s worth of research. Similarly, in September 2025, NASA announced potential microbial life discovered on Mars by the Perseverance rover in a rock sample called Sapphire Canyon. Acting Administrator Sean Duffy stated this represented “the closest we have ever come to discovering life on Mars,” though the findings were carefully hedged as requiring further Earth-based laboratory analysis. The pattern of cautious language for Mars discoveries and limited UAP transparency stands in stark contrast to the month-long withholding of 3I/ATLAS images, raising questions about how space agencies communicate findings about phenomena that do not fit established categories. The briefing will will include an open Q&A session for media and the public and it will be streaming live on Cristina’s YouTube channel.

Sources

Global News. (2025, September 10). NASA suggests it may have found signs of ancient life on Mars [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RpK0QMWu2R8

NASA to share Comet 3I/ATLAS images from spacecraft, telescopes — NASA. (n.d.). NASA. https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-to-share-comet-3i-atlas-images-from-spacecraft-telescopes/?utm_source=TWITTER&utm_medium=NASA&utm_campaign=NASASocial&linkId=879164498

NASA Videos. (2023, September 29). Unidentified anomalous phenomena Independent Study report @NASA_8K [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDawfujLuDU