NASA's Psyche Spacecraft Returns Unfamiliar Views of a Familiar World
The flyby gave the spacecraft a 1,000 mph boost and helped scientists calibrate its cameras and other instruments before reaching 16 Psyche.
- On May 15, 2026, NASA's Psyche spacecraft flew by Mars, passing within 2,864 miles of the surface while completing a gravity assist maneuver en route to the asteroid Psyche.
- A gravity assist allows spacecraft to harness planetary gravitational influence for trajectory adjustments; Mars provided a 1,000 mile per hour boost and shifted Psyche's orbital plane by about 1 degree.
- Images from the multispectral imager, developed at Arizona State University, captured a nearly 'full Mars' and the Huygens crater, which is about 290 miles wide, to calibrate instruments.
- Instruments like magnetometers may have detected a 'bow shock' on Mars related to solar wind dynamics, while the probe tests Deep Space Optical Communications software, laser-beaming data back to Earth.
- Don Han, Psyche's navigation lead at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, confirmed the probe remains on course for arrival at the asteroid Psyche in summer 2029, with further imagery analysis expected.
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46 Articles
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) took a fundamental step in a mission that, beyond its scientific implications, began to set off alarms in global financial markets. On May 15, the Psyche probe successfully executed a gravitational assistance maneuver near Mars, where it used the force of the planet to adjust its trajectory towards asteroid 16 Psyche.
NASA's Psyche Mission Says Goodbye to Mars and Heads for its Metal-Rich Target
Spacecraft often use planets for gravity-assist or "slingshot" maneuvers. NASA's Psyche mission used Mars for that purpose during a May 15th flyby. The flyby accelerated the spacecraft and aimed it at its eventual destination, the asteroid 16 Psyche. The flyby was also an opportunity to take some pictures of Mars, and to test and calibrate the spacecraft's science instruments.
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