Posted: Sep 14, 2019 12:36 am
Sometime in the late 2020's, hopefully, ESA will launch a craft to hang out at the L2 LaGrange point and wait for something cool like this to arrive and intercept it. https://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/ESA_s_new_mission_to_intercept_a_comet
With any additional luck, some different agency will even beat them to it.
Although much rarer, another example of a potential target is an interstellar interloper from another star system, like the famed ‘Oumuamua that flew past our Sun on a highly inclined orbit in 2017. Studying an interstellar object would offer the chance to explore how comet-like bodies form and evolve in other star systems.
With any additional luck, some different agency will even beat them to it.