First images of the Psyche mission flyby of Mars
The Psyche mission successfully completed its flyby of Mars on May 15, 2026. Mars gave the spacecraft a 1,000-mile-per-hour (1,600-km-per-hour) critical gravity assist.
It also moved its orbit by about 1 degree. So the spacecraft is now successfully it on track toward the asteroid 16 Psyche. See some of the new images of the flyby below.
Because of the angle of Psyche’s approach, Mars appeared first as a crescent. Then it saw a more fully lit Mars as it flew away. Scientists plan to put together a timelapse of Psyche’s images of the Mars flyby in the coming weeks. So stay tuned!
Psyche mission flyby of Mars
The Psyche spacecraft, launched in 2023, is headed toward a rare metal asteroid, also named Psyche (16 Psyche, the 16th known asteroid ever discovered). It will arrive in 2029. But in order to get out to the asteroid belt, the spacecraft made a close flyby of Mars to adjust its direction and pick up a boost of speed on May 15, 2026.
Psyche came within 2,800 miles (4,500 kilometers) of the red planet’s surface. That’s closer than Earth’s geostationary satellites. The spacecraft was traveling at 12,333 mph (19,848 kph).
The maneuver used Mars’ gravity as a “slingshot” to accelerate the probe and tilt its trajectory toward its final destination, the metal-rich asteroid 16 Psyche.
An early Psyche image of Mars was the one below, from May 3. In the image, Psyche was still about 3 million miles (4.8 million km) away.
Does Mars have a ring?
Astronomers think Mars might have a faint, dusty ring. The ring would be the result of micrometeorites striking Mars’ two moons, Phobos and Deimos, and ejecting dust into orbit around Mars. So there’s a chance data from Psyche could reveal this dusty ring around Mars. The sun-Mars-Psyche alignment might allow the sun striking the particles to scatter light, and image processing could pick up the ring.
Why fly past Mars?
While most flybys are planned to give a spacecraft a boost of speed, this flyby is also important to slightly change the spacecraft’s trajectory. The orbit of asteroid Psyche is skewed by about 3 degrees from the plane of the solar system. So in order to get to the asteroid Psyche, the Psyche mission must adjust its trajectory by a little bit.
More about the Psyche mission and asteroid
Some scientists think the asteroid Psyche is a failed planet. Perhaps, as the nascent planet formed, something struck it and stripped off the outer layers, leaving behind the metallic core. If so, then some estimates put the massive, metal-rich object’s worth at $10,000 quadrillion. That’s more than the entire economy of Earth.
However, a 2021 study from the University of Arizona said asteroid Psyche might not be as metallic or dense as scientists once thought. Instead, these scientists said:
Rather than being an intact exposed core of an early planet, it might actually be closer to a rubble pile.
Who’s right? That’s what the Psyche mission hopes to discover when it arrives at the asteroid in 2029.
Bottom line: Psyche mission images of the Mars flyby are now here! See them here and read more about what Psyche learned as it passed the red planet.
Read more: Ancient lake on Mars? Rover finds strong new evidence
Read more: New meteor shower from an asteroid being eroded by the sun
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