In May, the spacecraft successfully approached the red planet while on its journey to investigate its namesake asteroid.
NASA’s Psyche spacecraft has made significant progress towards its target in the asteroid belt, following a gravity assist from Mars in May. The space agency recently released stunning imagery from this fleeting moment. The spacecraft’s multispectral camera captured thousands of images as it neared and flew past Mars. A newly shared timelapse by NASA compiles these images, creating an enchanting video that showcases the crescent shape of Mars as well as detailed surface features and the icy south pole as the spacecraft moved away.
“The imager excelled, providing views of the red planet that are seldom seen,” remarked Jim Bell, the lead for the imager instrument at Arizona State University. The spacecraft initiated its approach on May 2 and reached its closest point to Mars on May 15.
This gravity assist not only boosted its speed but also altered its trajectory to ensure it heads towards the asteroid Psyche, while conserving fuel for the lengthy trip. The spacecraft is projected to arrive at the asteroid in 2029. “In addition to the stunning visuals, we were able to thoroughly test the imager’s calibration and its sensitivity to scattered light,” Bell added. “This included successfully identifying the Martian moons, Phobos and Deimos, from a considerable distance, which serves as practice for detecting potential moonlets at asteroid Psyche.”
