In 2017 and 2019 the detections of the only two object known to have passed through our Solar System from alfresco notice an extraordinary leap for science . However , the data we could glean from each of them was frustratingly introductory . uranologist have part design so that when such events happen again , we can translate our knowledge of the universe beyond the field warm by the Sun ’s gleaming by sending spacecraft to shoot them at nigh range .

When‘Oumuamuawas spotted , fans of classic science fiction directly saw parallels with the secret plan ofRendezvous with Rama , a novel in which a space vehicle and crew are divert to look into a jaw alien spaceship on a similar route . If theproposed filmcomes to fruition , it may even have the comet to thank . However , the book was set a century in the future , when humans have a base on Mars and much greater capability to intercept incoming object than we have today .

A preprint of a paper on ArXiv.org , yet to be match review , considers the likeliness of another interstellar visitor over the next ten old age . It then looks at how we could investigate it , albeit by uncrewed space vehicle rather than a plucky stria of astronauts .

The piece of work is a farsighted agency from being implemented by NASA or other space agencies . If the estimation is approved , any concluding interpretation will probably look very different , but the work may get going a more tight conversation on how one of the most exciting commission of the near future tense could occur .

The authors forestall us spotting 15 visitors over a decade , but with only a sample of two to extrapolate from the computer error bar are across-the-board – from just 0.38 up to 84 .

The first requirement for a mission to get one of these would be to get lot of monition . With a host of new telescope either recently online orabout to arrive , that precondition may soon be meet .

Then , we would require a spacecraft ready to go . Rather than debate with the hold any launch from Earth risks , such as those due tobad weather , the authors propose getting it into quad before we have a objective . The trade would then be stow at aLagrange stage – they paint a picture L2 where the JWST is based – and activated when the need arise .

Of course , just entrance one visitant at close compass will not be enough to quench astronomers ’ hunger for noesis . Little though we know , we are sure ‘ Oumuamua and its successor,2I / Borisov , are very different beasts , with the latter plainly resembling a comet from the outer reaches of our own system and ‘ Oumuamua unlikeanything seen before . Even a sample distribution from one , let alone faithful - orbit picture taking , would have told scientists nothing about the other . Images taken within 1,000 kilometers ( 621 mi ) of an interloper , as the authors suggest , would likely touch off a seeking for more .

One unexpended question is whether such a craft should go after the first potential quarry , which might be an apparently boring objective , or if it should hold back in the hope of something more interesting .

The preprint ’s second author is Harvard ’s Professor Avi Loeb , who severelydamaged his reputationby pushing the idea ‘ Oumuamua was analien spacecraftto the popular medium . Although it name a divergence to talk over this idea , the preprint also covers more mainstream theories of ‘ Oumuamua ’s origins , and its determination regarding future missions do n’t bank on the theory .

The preprint can be find out atArXiv.org