NASA's Psyche spacecraft returns unfamiliar views of a familiar world
NASA's Psyche spacecraft recently conducted a flyby of Mars, capturing unique images of the planet. This encounter provided a significant gravity assist, boosting the spacecraft's speed and adjusting its orbital path towards its target, the asteroid Psyche. The mission is on track for arrival at the asteroid in summer 2029 after launching in October 2023.
- ▪NASA's Psyche spacecraft used a flyby of Mars to gain speed for its journey to the asteroid belt.
- ▪The spacecraft captured images of Mars from a rare perspective, showing a crescent view of the planet.
- ▪The gravity assist from Mars provided a 1,000-mile-per-hour boost to the spacecraft's speed.
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Destination: asteroid belt NASA’s Psyche spacecraft returns unfamiliar views of a familiar world “As a bonus, it captured Mars images from a rare perspective.” Stephen Clark – May 20, 2026 5:26 pm | 1 This view of a crescent Mars was captured on May 15, 2026, at about 8:03 am EDT (12:03 UTC) by NASA’s Psyche mission as it approached the planet for a gravity assist. The image has been processed into a natural-color view using red, green, and blue data from the multispectral imager instrument. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU This view of a crescent Mars was captured on May 15, 2026, at about 8:03 am EDT (12:03 UTC) by NASA’s Psyche mission as it approached the planet for a gravity assist.
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