NASA’s Psyche spacecraft skimmed 2,800 miles above Mars on May 15, 2026, using the planet’s gravity to gain a 1,000 mph boost and test instruments for its 2029 asteroid mission.
NASA’s spacecraft executed a critical maneuver on May 15, 2026, flying just 2,800 miles (4,600 kilometers) above Mars’ surface at more than 19,848 miles per hour. The flyby not only provided a 1,000-mile-per-hour speed boost but also served as a high-stakes test of the mission’s scientific instruments, ensuring they would function properly when the probe reaches its target asteroid in 2029.
A Gravity Assist and a Scientific Dress Rehearsal
The spacecraft’s trajectory adjustment, known as a gravity assist, was years in the making. This gravity assist was years in the making, and the navigation team nailed it – Psyche flew by Mars on exactly the trajectory we needed to set us on a path to rendezvous with the asteroid in the summer of 2029,
said Bob Mase, the project manager of Psyche at JPL. The maneuver allowed the probe to slingshot around Mars, effectively “stealing” some of the planet’s orbital energy to accelerate without burning xenon propellant. This technique is vital for deep-space missions, as it conserves propellant for later course corrections.
The flyby also offered a rare opportunity to test Psyche’s instruments. The gamma-ray and neutron spectrometer, designed to help scientists determine the chemical elements that make up the asteroid’s surface material, detected neutron emissions from Mars’ surface, validating its performance. It was very gratifying to see,
said David Lawrence, the science lead for Psyche’s spectrometer at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory. We didn’t detect gamma rays from Mars, but we put the instrument through its paces, and it performed excellently.
Instrumentation in Action
Psyche’s magnetometer, another key instrument, recorded Mars’ magnetic field during the flyby. As the spacecraft passed close to Mars, the magnetometer saw an intense uptick in magnetic field corresponding to the bow shock region,
said Ben Weiss, Psyche’s deputy principal investigator and the magnetometry investigation lead at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The data revealed insights into how Mars’ magnetic field interacts with the solar wind, a phenomenon that could inform future studies of other planets.
The mission’s multispectral imager captured detailed images of Mars’ surface, including the south polar ice cap and the double-ringed Huygens crater. The imager performed brilliantly,
said Jim Bell, the Psyche imager instrument lead at Arizona State University. The team also used the flyby to practice detecting small objects, such as the Martian moons Phobos and Deimos, a skill crucial for identifying potential moonlets around the asteroid Psyche.
The Journey Ahead
With the Mars flyby complete, Psyche is now on track to arrive at its namesake asteroid in the summer of 2029. The metallic body, believed to be the exposed core of a primordial planet, has puzzled scientists for decades. We didn’t anticipate big discoveries, given how extensively the planet has been studied, but we did complement Mars science with the data we collected through Psyche’s unique perspective,
said Bob Mase.
The spacecraft’s solar-electric propulsion system is expected to resume sustained thrusting this fall, further refining its trajectory. The spacecraft is in great shape, and we're on schedule to resume sustained thrusting with the solar-electric propulsion system this fall,
said Mase. As Psyche continues its journey, the data gathered during the Mars flyby will remain a vital reference point for understanding both the Red Planet and the asteroid it is destined to explore.
The mission’s success underscores the importance of gravity assists in deep-space exploration. By leveraging Mars’ gravitational pull, Psyche has not only advanced its own objectives but also contributed to broader planetary science. As the probe approaches its 2029 rendezvous, the lessons learned from this flyby will shape the next phase of its mission, offering a glimpse into the early solar system’s hidden treasures.
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