Scientists Want to Send a Probe to Catch Up With 'Oumumua by 2054 - Interesting Engineering

'Oumumua, the first interstellar object to be observed in our Solar System, might be an alien spacecraft, but it could also be a cigar-shaped rock.

While many in the scientific community are resigned to never finding out the true answer, one team has outlined an ambitious plan to send a probe to catch up with the mysterious space object as it travels farther and farther away from Earth, a report from Forbes reveals.

After 'Oumumua was discovered on October 19, 2017, by the Pan-STARRS1 Near-Earth Object survey, astronomers pointed out several anomalies that meant the object didn't resemble other asteroids observed in our Solar System.

That's why a team from the Initiative for Interstellar Studies (I4IS) published a new paper outlining their plans for Project Lyra, a mission that would send a solar sail probe to catch up with and analyze 'Oumumua before it's lost to us forever.

Since 'Oumumua was first observed, one other interstellar object, named C/2019 Q4 (Borisov), was discovered.