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

The gravity assist preserves xenon for solar‑electric thrust, positioning the probe to study a metal‑rich world tied to how planet cores form.

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
An image of Mars captured by Nasa’s Psyche mission on May 3, 2026. (Photo: Nasa)
Artist's concept of asteroid Psyche. Image via Maxar/ ASU/ P. Rubin/ NASA/ JPL-Caltech.

Overview

  • Psyche, which will pass within about 2,800 miles of Mars on Friday, will use the planet’s pull to boost its 12,333‑mph flyby and bend onto a 2029 approach to asteroid Psyche.
  • All instruments are active for the encounter to capture thousands of images, test the twin cameras, hunt faint dust rings and small moons, and calibrate data for the asteroid campaign.
  • Mission teams are coordinating measurements with Mars orbiters and rovers, with sharper photos and a time‑lapse to be released after the pass because limited downlink prevents live imaging.
  • The maneuver was built into the route to conserve the spacecraft’s xenon for its solar‑electric ion thrusters and to tweak its trajectory to match the asteroid’s slightly tilted orbit.
  • Upon arrival in 2029, the probe will orbit for roughly two years to map composition, gravity, and magnetism at a rare metal‑rich asteroid that may be an exposed nickel‑iron core.