Overview
- Psyche made a close gravity-assist pass on May 15, 2026, coming within about 4,609 kilometers of Mars and receiving a roughly 1,000-mile-per-hour speed boost plus a one-degree orbital-plane change.
- After the encounter the mission team confirmed the spacecraft’s trajectory and restarted its solar-electric ion engines to continue the journey toward a planned summer 2029 rendezvous with asteroid 16 Psyche.
- The spacecraft captured thousands of images on approach and after closest approach, including thin-crescent and nearly full-disk views that show Huygens crater, wind streaks in Syrtis Major, and a large south polar ice cap.
- All science instruments were powered during the encounter to calibrate cameras, magnetometers and particle detectors; a satellite-search rehearsal was performed and magnetometer data that may show a bow shock are under active analysis.
- The gravity assist conserved months of xenon propellant and positions Psyche for an expected two-year orbital mapping campaign at the metal-rich asteroid that will test whether its shiny portions are an exposed planetary core.