NASA Releases Psyche Mars Flyby Image After 2,800-Mile Gravity Assist
Updated
Updated · Popular Science · May 20
NASA Releases Psyche Mars Flyby Image After 2,800-Mile Gravity Assist
9 articles · Updated · Popular Science · May 20
NASA on May 20 released a Mars image captured by the Psyche spacecraft on May 15, showing a thin crescent of the planet hours before the probe’s gravity-assist pass.
The 3,600-pound spacecraft used Mars to reshape its trajectory for a 2.2-billion-mile journey to asteroid 16 Psyche, passing about 2,800 miles above the surface at roughly 12,333 mph.
Mission scientists said the crescent appeared brighter and wider than expected because sunlight scattered through Mars’ dusty atmosphere at a high phase angle.
Launched in October 2023, Psyche is headed to the 140-mile-wide, metal-rich asteroid near Jupiter and is scheduled to arrive in 2029 to study its magnetic, chemical and elemental properties.
If asteroid Psyche isn't a planetary core, what cosmic origin could explain its bizarre metallic composition?
Could this mission to a metal world completely rewrite our understanding of how planets are formed?
Inside Psyche’s Mars Flyby: Precision Gravity Assist, Instrument Calibration, and the Journey to the Solar System’s Metal Core
Overview
The Psyche spacecraft recently completed a critical Mars flyby, using the planet’s gravity to gain speed and shift its trajectory deeper into the solar system. This strategic maneuver marked a major milestone on its journey to the metal-rich asteroid Psyche. By leveraging Mars’s gravity, the spacecraft conserved a significant amount of fuel, which would have been costly and impractical to achieve with its own engines. The successful flyby not only set Psyche on its precise course but also ensured the mission is well-prepared for its next phase of exploration and scientific discovery.