NASA's Voyager Will Take 28,000 Years — 3I/ATLAS Could Do It In 8,000, Loeb Says

When NASA launched Voyager 1 in 1977, it became humanity's boldest attempt to reach the stars.

Nearly half a century later, Voyager 1 is still going. It is the most distant human-made object ever built, carrying the famous Golden Record and drifting through interstellar space at about 17 kilometres per second.

But here's the humbling truth: even at that speed, Voyager would need around 28,000 years to reach another star system.

Nature, it turns out, does much better.

According to astrophysicist Avi Loeb, an interstellar object 3I/ATLAS could make a similar journey in roughly 8,000 years, not because it was engineered brilliantly, but because it was born moving fast.

Why Cosmic Visitors Are Faster

Comets like 3I/ATLAS that move in interstellar space are faster because of their origins. Thrown into other planetary systems, they are pushed with the same gravitational forces and the activity of stars, and their velocities are hundreds of times lower than those of the man-made probes.

Voyager relies on 20th-century technologies such as chemical propulsion and gravitational assist, and is limited by engineering constraints.

Loeb is convinced that the interstellar visitors are manifestations of nature's efficiency, and he demonstrates that the future of interstellar travel need not entail enormous energy loss. Galactic forces, rather than the slow thrust of rockets, should influence them.

Exploration Implications

The speed of Voyager compared to that of 3I/ATLAS is not just a subject of contemplation; it has far-reaching effects on the future of exploration.

Loeb has suggested that we could use them as exploration ships and attach instruments or even time capsules to interstellar travellers. This would allow us to relay messages or collect data across the entire galaxy in a far superior way than current space vehicles.

Through observing these visitors, scientists would also know how distant planetary systems are composed. Any of the interstellar comets is a fragment of a different planet that possesses a chemical record and physical features, which do not necessarily coincide with our solar system.

Navigating Our Inquisitiveness

Loeb's ideas emphasise that these possibilities should be the subject of human curiosity. We would understand what natural travellers would do when flying through our neighbourhood, instead of taking tens of thousands of years for Voyager to reach another star. This would accelerate interstellar science, and soon it would be a dream rather than a faraway place.

He has described interstellar objects as a 'message in a bottle,' and he has urged scientists to view them as messengers of the universe rather than momentary anomalies.

Interstellar Archaeology: A New Discipline

Loeb envisages a future field of interstellar archaeology dedicated to the study of the world beyond our observable universe. The ideal objects to use in such research are the 3I/ATLAS, as they are fast and accessible. In the event of any anomalies being found, they could expand our understanding of physics and offer a better understanding of the nature of galactic matter further.

This vision holds that interstellar exploration is not only a technological issue but also a scientific imperative. As 3I/ATLAS proceeds along its course, it is anticipated to encounter Jupiter in March 2026, prospectively creating room for further anomaly-related findings. For now, the speed of the comet is a clear demonstration to humanity how inefficient their technology is compared to nature.

Loeb does not just calculate in years when comparing Voyager with 3I/ATLAS. It is a rallying cry: to learn how to partner with cosmic visitors in our cosmic quest, to review our plans of interstellar travel, and to realise that the universe has given us opportunities to accelerate space exploration, provided we are willing to leverage them.