US lawmaker calls on NASA to release 3I/ATLAS images

She wants them to put ATLAS on the map.

Amid growing mystery surrounding 3I/ATLAS, Republican congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna is calling on NASA to share unreleased data and images of the Manhattan-sized comet to advance our understanding.

The 36-year-old Florida rep shared an X post of her letter, which was addressed to acting NASA administrator Sean Duffy.

“I write to request the release of specific observational data related to 3I/ATLAS, recently captured by NASA missions,” Luna wrote. “This information is of great importance to advancing our understanding of interstellar visitors and their interaction with our solar system.”

This comes as the comet exhibited signs of non-gravitational acceleration and appeared “bluer than the sun” while flying by our local star, causing Harvard scientist Avi Loeb to speculate that it could have an alien craft “engine.”

The lawmaker specifically called upon the space agency to release the images that the HiRISE camera aboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter snapped between October 2-3.

She also requested “supplementary data” from the spacecraft in question, the Perseverance Rover, and “other Mars missions that may have detected unusual activity near Mars around or after October 3, 2025, when 3I/ATLAS passed within approximately 30 million kilometers (18.6 million miles) of the planet.”

Coincidentally, Loeb accused NASA of refusing to show him the HiRISE camera image snapped on October 2, suggesting that said image could’ve provided evidence of the cosmic body’s non-cometary characteristics, such as a tail that points toward and not away from the sun as is standard.

Elsewhere in the letter, Luna implored the space agency to keep close tabs on ATLAS, which is the third ever interstellar object recorded in our solar system.

“I encourage NASA to fund additional observations of 31/ATLAS by the Juno mission near Jupiter, utilizing all available instruments, including its radio sensors,” she wrote. “Observations from this vantage point could yield valuable insights into the object’s composition, trajectory, and possible interaction with the solar environment.”

Loeb praised Luna for taking the initiative in a recent post on Medium, writing, “We all owe a debt of deep gratitude for the visionary support displayed by Representative Luna to frontier science through her letter.”

The politician isn’t the only high profile figure inquiring about our visitor from beyond.

Last week, Kim Kardashian asked NASA’s acting administrator Sean Duffy on X to spill the “tea” on the interstellar entity. “Great question!” the director promptly responded. “@NASA’s observations show that this is the third interstellar comet to pass through our solar system. No aliens. No threat to life here on Earth.”

Loeb criticized Duffy in another blog post, observing how how the NASA chief responded to Kim, “a successful businesswoman” instead of a scientist.

He entitled the entry, “Kim Kardashian is Welcome to Join my Research Team on 3I/ATLAS.”