Mysterious interstellar object 3I/ATLAS made an astonishingly close pass of Mars last month, allowing scientific instruments in the planet’s orbit to get a tantalizing glimpse. One image, taken by HiRISE on October 2, shows a “fuzzy white ball,” as NASA associate administrator Amit Kshatriya described it. “That ball is a cloud of dust and ice called the coma, which is shed by the comet,” Kshatriya said. “This object is a comet,” Kshatriya said. More on 3I/ATLAS: Harvard Scientist Suspicious About 3I/ATLAS’ Origins Fires Back at Critics