NASA’s Psyche spacecraft used a planned gravity-assist flyby of Mars on May 15, passing within about 2,800 miles of the planet and boosting speed to align its trajectory with the orbit of 16 Psyche. The mission is now on track for arrival in July 2029, with as
NASA’s Psyche spacecraft has slipped past Mars in a carefully timed maneuver—closer than any of the planet’s own moons—while en route to the metallic asteroid 16 Psyche.
The flyby was planned as a gravity assist, using the Red Planet’s pull to boost Psyche’s speed and refine its trajectory without burning extra propellant. The spacecraft’s solar-electric ion thruster system runs on xenon gas, so every saved fuel decision matters.
The closest approach came at about 3:30 PM Eastern time on May 15, when Psyche passed within roughly 2,800 miles of Mars. The spacecraft was moving at about 12,300 mph at the speed line described for the flyby, and its route was shifted so it is now aligned with 16 Psyche’s orbit around the sun.
Mars’s moons were part of the comparison: Phobos orbits Mars from about 3. 700 miles away. while Deimos sits much farther out at about 12. 470 miles above the planet’s surface.. From Psyche’s perspective. the planet itself showed up as a bright. thin crescent. with its surface and surrounding dust reflecting sunlight.
Psyche began approaching Mars in early May, and during the flyby its cameras took additional images of the planet. Those photos will be beamed back over the coming days and weeks through NASA’s Deep Space Network’s giant antennas, and they will be uploaded to the mission’s official page.
The timing ties back to the larger mission schedule: Psyche launched on a six-year journey starting in late 2023. with the 2.2-billion-mile trip planned to end in July 2029.. NASA expects the spacecraft to begin its asteroid objectives the next month. after spending about two years orbiting 16 Psyche—“to take pictures. map the surface and collect data to determine Psyche’s composition.”
Scientists are interested because Psyche is considered the largest known metallic asteroid in the solar system.. NASA says it could be part of the iron-rich core of a planetesimal—an early solid building block from the solar system’s formation era.. That idea is also why the mission is framed as more than a close-up visit: NASA notes that visiting Psyche could provide “a one-of-a-kind window into the violent history of collisions and accumulation of matter that created planets like our own. ” because scientists “can’t bore a path to Earth’s metal core — or the cores of the other rocky planets.”
The sequence is tight: Psyche is already approaching Mars. performs the planned May 15 gravity-assist flyby at about 3:30 PM Eastern time. gains speed (12. 300 mph) and trajectory alignment. then prepares to transmit the flyby images through NASA’s Deep Space Network.. Those steps sit directly inside the mission’s longer timeline. which stretches from a late-2023 launch through a July 2029 arrival and the next month’s start of work at 16 Psyche.
A NASA post tied to the flyby also listed a current distance from Mars of 14,450 miles and showed the mission details alongside the May 15 update.
NASA Psyche spacecraft Mars gravity assist 16 Psyche xenon ion thruster Deep Space Network Phobos Deimos asteroid mission