New infrared observations reveal that the rare interstellar visitor known as comet 3I/ATLAS has dramatically brightened during its farewell tour of the solar system.

NASA announced the news Tuesday, shortly after the critical fueling test ended at Kennedy Space Center. Until the exasperating hydrogen leaks, the space agency had been targeting as soon as this weekend for humanity's first trip to the moon in more than half a century.

Members of the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee voted to approve a NASA authorization bill this week, advancing legislation chock full of policy guidelines meant to give lawmakers a voice in the space agency’s strategic direction.

The quartet's arrival will take the ISS back up to its normal complement of seven crewmembers. The station has been staffed by just three astronauts — one American and two Russians — since Jan. 15, when SpaceX's Crew-11 mission departed for Earth.