i4is is happy to announce a new project: Project Lyra. Lyra is the star constellation from which the interstellar asteroid A/2017 U1 came from. According to current information, the object is smaller than 400m in diameter and is currently travelling at 44km/s with respect to the sun, much faster than any human-made object to date. What can be more exciting than chasing this object with a spacecraft and making observations from a close distance? What secrets are hidden on this visitor from our galaxy? The velocity of the object makes it challenging to reach but this challenge might lead to new, innovative mission concepts.
After the formation of an internal team, we are now actively seeking collaborators for this project to study mission concepts for exploring the visitor from interstellar space!
Please find more information on our Project Lyra page!