A colorful hand-illustrated poster shows a spacecraft flying past Mars on its way to Asteroid 16 Psyche. A curved trail reading “a slingshot into space” represents a gravity assist. Mars, the spacecraft, and the asteroid are colored using the Psyche Mission palette of purples, oranges, and pinks. Subtle organic textures appear throughout the image, created by drawing against rough wooden boards.

Gravity Assist!

Caitlin Richard

January 14th, 2026

Major: Biological Sciences & Anthropology

Genre/Medium: Prismacolor colored pencil on Strathmore 400 Series Drawing Paper, 18 in. x 24 in.

About the work:

Gravity Assist! is a hand-illustrated poster that draws on the artist’s background in album and show poster design, celebrating NASA’s Psyche mission during its May 2026 Mars flyby and gravity assist. This gravity assist maneuver is often referred to as a “slingshot into space.” Official Psyche Mission patch colors highlight the spacecraft, Mars, and Asteroid 16 Psyche, while a deep navy background and mustard lettering draw inspiration from 1960s sci-fi movie posters and early 20th-century Art Nouveau advertisements.

Created with Prismacolor pencils on Strathmore paper, the artist intentionally incorporated the rough wooden texture of her studio walls, resulting in both organic and angular patterns throughout the piece. These deliberate wood-grain textures provide a tactile reference to Earth and the human effort behind space exploration, paying tribute to the artisan trades, careful design, and tireless iterative process that make missions like Psyche possible.

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Date Added: 01-14-2026
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/Caitlin Richard - Psyche Inspired

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