Psyche’s Successful Imaging and Calibration Efforts During Mars Flyby
On May 15, 2026, NASA’s Psyche spacecraft passed about 2,800 miles (4,500 kilometers) from the Martian surface, successfully using the planet’s gravity to give it a critical boost on its journey to the asteroid Psyche.
The flyby provided the mission with an opportunity to calibrate its science instruments as well as to capture images that have been assembled into a stunning timelapse of the spacecraft’s month-long Red Planet encounter.
Not only did the instruments operate precisely as designed, delivering data that matches what NASA already knows about Mars, they also provided a few new insights about the planet along the way.
By capturing thousands of observations of Mars with the multispectral imager, engineers can now hone the precise imaging and navigation techniques required to orbit Psyche.
Launched in October 2023, NASA’s Psyche spacecraft is on a journey of more than 2 billion miles (3.6 billion kilometers) to explore the metal-rich asteroid Psyche. The mission is expected to arrive in 2029 to study what scientists believe is the exposed nickel-iron core of an ancient planet. The Mars flyby provided the gravity assist needed to continue that journey.
For more information, go to https://science.nasa.gov/mission/psyche/
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU
High-Resolution Stereo Camera Animation courtesy of the Institute of Space Research, Berlin-Adlershof. The 3D data products were produced by the Global Topography and Mosaics Task Group of the HRSC science team. HRSC Images @ ESA/DLR/FU Berlin, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO.
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