NASA’s Psyche Mission Aces Mars Flyby, Targets Metal-Rich Asteroid

https://www.nasa.gov/missions/psyche-mission/nasas-psyche-mission-aces-mars-flyby-targets-metal-rich-asteroid/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nn202620 NASA’s Psyche spacecraft completed its close approach of Mars on May 15, passing just 2,864 miles above the planet’s surface. The flyby used Mars’ gravity to boost the spacecraft’s speed and shift its orbital plane — an adjustment achieved without expending onboard propellant — setting Psyche on course for its namesake, the metal-rich asteroid. In the days leading up to and during the flyby, Psyche powered up its science instruments for calibration, including its imagers, magnetometers, and gamma‑ray and neutron spectrometer. The planetary encounter served as a valuable rehearsal for operations at the asteroid and, as a bonus, provided rare-perspective images of Mars. With Mars in the rearview mirror, Psyche will resume solar‑electric propulsion as it heads toward the main asteroid belt. When it arrives in August 2029, it will enter orbit around asteroid Psyche, believed to be the exposed core of an early planetesimal — a building block of the terrestrial planets. If confirmed, the asteroid could offer an unprecedented look into the interior structure of rocky worlds like Earth