Psyche Mars – NASA has shared new images captured by the Psyche spacecraft during its Mars flyby, including a view of the Huygens double-ring crater and the planet’s southern polar region, as the mission prepares to continue toward the metallic asteroid 16 Psyche.
A spacecraft racing toward a metallic asteroid just sent back a different kind of treasure: sharp, enhanced images of Mars—collected during Psyche’s flyby in a moment engineered for speed.
NASA has released the photos Psyche took when it used a Mars gravity assist on the way to the metallic asteroid 16 Psyche. One of the images focuses on the Huygens double-ring crater. The crater spans 290 miles in diameter. and Psyche captured an image of it shortly after the spacecraft’s closest approach to the planet. The colors in the scene reflect differences in the composition of dust. sand. and bedrock. though NASA enhanced those colors to make the variations more pronounced.
The spacecraft also turned its camera toward Mars itself after its closest pass. It took a high-resolution image of the southern pole, where vast fields of water ice remain in that state all year round—showing up as a bright spot in the photo.
Before those views. Psyche recorded what it saw as it approached Mars from high up: a crescent Mars. lit by sunlight reflected off the planet’s surface. NASA says the crescent looked brighter and stretched farther than the surface alone would explain. because sunlight was also being reflected by Mars’s dusty atmosphere.
With the flyby complete, Psyche is now set to resume its solar-electric propulsion system. The mission began with a six-year trip launched in October 2023, and the timing mattered. During the flyby. Psyche came closer to Mars than the planet’s own moons ever do. passing within 2. 800 miles of Mars’s surface at its closest approach.
NASA expects the spacecraft to reach 16 Psyche in 2029. After that, the mission is planned to spend two years orbiting and observing the asteroid.
16 Psyche is the largest known metallic asteroid in the solar system. Scientists believe that studying it can help reveal how the core of our own planet formed—making these Mars images feel like a brief detour on the way to a much longer, more specific scientific target.
NASA Psyche spacecraft Mars flyby Huygens double-ring crater water ice southern pole of Mars solar-electric propulsion asteroid 16 Psyche
So they’re taking pics of Mars on the way to an asteroid? Kinda wild but also… why can’t we just send people there instead.
290 miles crater?? That sounds fake tbh. Like I’m sure it’s real, but “colors enhanced” is what they always say so it looks cooler than it does. Still, water ice on Mars is the part that gets me. If it’s bright all year then how is it not obvious to everyone.
Wait I thought Mars gravity assist means it’s actually gonna land on Mars or something? But it just took pictures then keeps going to 16 Psyche like nothing happened. Also 16 Psyche metallic asteroid… does that mean it’s full of gold?? because that’s what my cousin said, idk.
That “crescent Mars” thing sounds like the spacecraft saw a moon phase or whatever. But they said it was brighter and stretched farther because of dusty atmosphere reflecting sunlight, which… ok, but Mars weather is always weird anyway. 2800 miles away is super close though. I hope the camera didn’t get blinded or something.