Several spacecraft are on watch this week as an interstellar traveler approaches Mars.

This is real life, not a sci-fi movie, but there’s also no impending alien invasion. It’s just a harmless but fascinating comet hurtling through space.

Comet 3I/ATLAS , which is just the third known object from another star system to pass through our solar system, has been speeding through our space neighborhood for several months and will make its closest approach to Mars on Friday. The word closest is relative here, since the comet will still be 18 million miles away from the red planet.

Discovered in July , Comet 3I/ATLAS poses no threat to Earth or other planets because its trajectory will keep it far away from those celestial bodies.

The comet had been visible from Earth from July through Sept

See Full Page