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last mo.

NASA’s Psyche Skims Mars for Gravity Assist on Course to Metal-Rich Asteroid

The close pass conserves xenon propellant by borrowing Mars’ momentum to pave the way for instrument checks before a 2029 arrival.

An image of Mars captured by Nasa’s Psyche mission on May 3, 2026. (Photo: Nasa)
A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket lifts off carrying a NASA spacecraft to investigate the Psyche asteroid from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, U.S., October 13, 2023. This is the first spacecraft to explore a metal-rich asteroid, which may be the leftover core of a protoplanet that began forming in the early solar system more than 4 billion years ago. REUTERS/Joe Skipper/File Photo
A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket lifts off carrying a NASA spacecraft to investigate the Psyche asteroid from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, U.S., October 13, 2023. This is the first spacecraft to explore a metal-rich asteroid, which may be the leftover core of a protoplanet that began forming in the early solar system more than 4 billion years ago. REUTERS/Joe Skipper/File Photo
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Overview

  • The Psyche spacecraft, which flies by on Friday, will pass about 2,800 miles above Mars at roughly 12,333 mph to bend its path toward asteroid 16 Psyche.
  • All science instruments are powered for the encounter to capture images and measurements that will calibrate the cameras, magnetometer, and particle detectors.
  • Engineers expect a unique view that starts with a thin crescent on approach and shifts to a fuller disk after the pass, with a processed timelapse planned in the coming weeks.
  • Teams will rehearse searches for a faint dust ring near Mars and for small moonlets as practice for spotting hazards and companions around the target asteroid, though new Martian moons are not expected.
  • Psyche uses solar-electric ion thrusters that sip xenon for low-thrust cruising, so the gravity boost replaces months of engine time as the probe heads for a 2029 arrival and a roughly two-year study of a likely metal-rich protoplanetary core.