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NASA’s Psyche probe is about to slingshot around Mars at 12,000 mph

Date:

May 11, 2026

Source:

NASA

Summary:

NASA’s Psyche spacecraft is about to pull off a dramatic close flyby of Mars, skimming just 2,800 miles above the planet to get a powerful gravitational boost on its journey to the mysterious metal-rich asteroid Psyche. The maneuver will save propellant while giving mission scientists a rare chance to test and calibrate the spacecraft’s instruments using Mars as a target. As Psyche approaches from the planet’s dark side, it’s expected to capture striking crescent views of Mars, search for faint dust rings around the planet, and even gather magnetic and cosmic ray data during the encounter.

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NASA’s Psyche spacecraft is racing past Mars for a gravity-powered boost — and could capture some spectacular surprises along the way. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

NASA's Psyche spacecraft is preparing for a close encounter with Mars that will help send it deeper into the solar system on its way to the metal-rich asteroid Psyche. On Friday, May 15, the spacecraft will pass just 2,800 miles (4,500 kilometers) above the Martian surface while traveling about 12,333 mph (19,848 kph). During the flyby, Mars' gravity will alter Psyche's path and increase its speed, reducing the amount of propellant needed for the long mission ahead.

Launched on Oct. 13, 2023, Psyche uses a solar-electric propulsion system powered by xenon gas. Instead of relying entirely on its thrusters, mission planners are taking advantage of Mars' gravitational pull to help guide the spacecraft toward its final destination, the unusual metallic asteroid Psyche. The flyby also provides an important chance to test and calibrate the spacecraft's science instruments before it reaches the asteroid in 2029.

Psyche Spacecraft Captures Mars Images

During the encounter, the mission team plans to use Psyche's multispectral imager to collect thousands of observations of Mars. The data will help scientists refine imaging techniques and practice operations they will later use while orbiting the asteroid Psyche.

The spacecraft has already begun returning images ahead of the flyby. Starting on May 7, the mission website began displaying the first unprocessed, or "raw," images showing a starfield with Mars appearing as a tiny point of light. Engineers will later process the flyby images by adjusting brightness and contrast, and they expect to create a time-lapse sequence of the event in the weeks ahead.

To make sure the spacecraft was precisely lined up for the maneuver, the operations team carried out a trajectory correction maneuver on Feb. 23. During that adjustment, Psyche fired its thrusters for 12 hours to fine-tune its course and slightly increase its speed before reaching Mars.

"We are now exactly on target for the flyby, and we've programmed the flight computer with everything that the spacecraft will do throughout May," said Sarah Bairstow, Psyche's mission planning lead at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, which manages the mission. "This is our first opportunity in flight to calibrate Psyche's imager with something bigger than a few pixels, and we'll also make observations with the mission's other science instruments."

What Mars Will Look Like During the Flyby

Psyche's view of Mars will look very different from the familiar bright images often seen from orbiters and telescopes. Because the spacecraft is approaching from the night side of the planet, Mars will first appear as a thin crescent illuminated by only a narrow strip of sunlight.

"We are approaching Mars at a very high phase angle, which means we are catching up with the planet from its night side with only a sliver of sunlight creating a thin crescent," said Jim Bell, the Psyche imager instrument lead at Arizona State University in Tempe. "The thin crescent on approach and the nearly 'full Mars' view after we fly past create opportunities for the imaging team for both great calibration observations as well as just plain beautiful photos."

Scientists are also interested in the possibility that Mars may have a faint dusty ring, sometimes called a torus, surrounding the planet. Researchers believe micrometeorites striking Mars' moons, Phobos and Deimos, may throw dust particles into space. Depending on how sunlight lines up during the flyby, some of that dust could become visible in Psyche's observations.

The spacecraft's imager will also perform "satellite search" observations around Mars. These tests are intended to prepare the mission team for searching for possible moonlets orbiting the asteroid Psyche later in the mission.

Other instruments aboard the spacecraft could gather valuable information during the flyby as well. Psyche's magnetometer may observe Mars' magnetic field interacting with charged particles from the Sun. Meanwhile, the gamma-ray