3I/ATLAS
Third confirmed interstellar object (after 1I/ʻOumuamua and 2I/Borisov), discovered by the ATLAS survey. Per src-loeb-panspermia-impact-survival-2026-03, spherex detected organic molecules on 3I/ATLAS, and avi-loeb proposes using such interstellar objects as carriers for a directed-panspermia capsule of microbes, nutrients, and power — an act Loeb calls more consequential than Voyager’s Golden Record.
Loeb also frames some interstellar objects as possible “Trojan Horses” — outwardly natural comets carrying technological payloads.