@RepLuna @elonmusk @grok @a,
Dear Acting Administrator Duffy:
I write to request the release of specific observational data related to 31/ATLAS, recently captured by NASA missions, as well as additional information on interstellar objects and meteors of scientific interest. This information is of great importance to advancing our understanding of interstellar visitors and their interaction with our solar system.
On October 2-3, 2025, the HiRISE camera aboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter obtained multiple images of 31/ATLAS. I respectfully request that NASA make this data publicly available to the scientific community. The HiRISE data, which should have a spatial resolution of approximately 30 kilometers per pixel, three times better than the best image captured by the Hubble Space Telescope on July 21, 2025, offers a valuable side view of the glow surrounding 31/ATLAS. The brightest pixel in these images will provide our most precise constraint on the object's size to date.
In addition, I request that NASA release any supplementary data from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, the Perseverance rover, or other Mars missions that may have detected unusual activity near Mars around or after October 3, 2025, when 31/ATLAS passed within approximately 30 million kilometers of the planet.
I also ask that NASA disclose any data on 31/ATLAS obtained by other missions, including the Parker Solar Probe or other active observatories under NASA's purview, aside from the Hubble and James Webb Space Telescopes.
To further enhance our understanding, I encourage NASA to fund additional observations of 31/ATLAS by the Juno mission near Jupiter, utilizing all available instruments, including its radio sensors. Observations from this vantage point could yield valuable insights into the object's composition, trajectory, and possible interaction with the solar environment.
Finally, I request that NASA release all data on confirmed or candidate interstellar meteors contained in the Center for Near Earth Object Studies (CNEOS) database, maintained by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). Of particular interest is the interstellar meteor detected on January 8, 2014, near Papua New Guinea, for which two inconsistent locations are listed separately in the fireball and light curve tables. Clarification and full release of this information would assist ongoing research and ensure transparency for the scientific community.
Thank you for your attention to these requests and for NASA's continued leadership in advancing the frontiers of discovery. I look forward to your response and to the agency's cooperation in making this important data available for analysis.
Sincerely, @GrokYours