PASADENA, California, June 8, 2026, 03:03 PDT
- NASA reports Mars delivered a roughly 1,000 mph push to Psyche, knocking its trajectory closer to the mission’s destination asteroid.
- This flyby doubled as a test run for the spacecraft’s cameras, magnetometer, and spectrometer—key instruments that will go into full swing when it gets to asteroid Psyche in 2029.
- Whether the asteroid is actually a fragment of an ancient planetary core—still unproven. That’s the mission’s main wager.
NASA’s Psyche probe picked up the extra boost it needed from a Mars flyby, locking in its path to reach a metal-rich asteroid in 2029, according to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Tracking data from NASA’s Deep Space Network verified that the spacecraft’s new trajectory is right on target, said JPL navigation lead Don Han. “We are now on course,” Han said. NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)
This maneuver marks a key milestone for Psyche, putting the spacecraft past a crucial waypoint in its 2.2 billion-mile trek toward one of the solar system’s more unusual large asteroids. Its destination, also named Psyche, could be the exposed core of a primordial planetesimal—a type of planetary building block—offering scientists the rare chance to examine metal-rich material hidden deep inside Earth.
On May 15, NASA’s Psyche spacecraft buzzed just 2,864 miles (4,609 kilometers) from Mars, NASA said. That close pass delivered a gravity assist, shifting the probe’s speed and angling its orbit toward the main asteroid belt sitting between Mars and Jupiter — all with barely any fuel used.
This flyby doubled as a systems check. NASA noted beforehand that the maneuver would conserve xenon propellant for Psyche’s solar-electric ion engine, and let the team put the science instruments through their paces mid-flight. Mission planning chief Sarah Bairstow described the probe as “exactly on target” ahead of the event. Reuters
Psyche snapped thousands of images of Mars using its dual cameras, which are equipped with filters for visible and near-infrared light. Onboard, magnetometers hunt for magnetic signatures, while a gamma-ray and neutron spectrometer tracks high-energy emissions to pinpoint chemical elements.
The Mars snapshots weren’t just keepsakes. NASA materials cited by Gizmodo describe shots of a crescent Mars, wind-streaked ground near Syrtis Major, the Huygens crater zone, and the south polar cap. Arizona State’s Jim Bell, Psyche’s imaging lead, described the data as “unique and important opportunities” for camera tests. Gizmodo
NASA tapped its other Mars hardware for backup. During the flyby, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, 2001 Mars Odyssey, and Curiosity rover all gathered extra data, as did ESA’s Mars Express and ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter, according to JPL.
The project isn’t just a NASA endeavor. Psyche rode a SpaceX Falcon Heavy into orbit last October. Maxar Technologies built the spacecraft’s chassis and provided key hardware, NASA said.
Time is the wild card here. Psyche’s journey isn’t close to over: the spacecraft will spend years cruising, running more solar-electric thrusters, then crawling in for a careful gravity capture in late July 2029. NASA’s plan builds in some breathing room—engineers have accounted for adjustments and potential hiccups before science collection actually starts.
The science angle carries its own uncertainty. Should the asteroid turn out not to be the stripped core of an early planet, the mission won’t lose all value—useful data would still come back—but the main scientific prize shifts. NASA has been deliberate in its messaging, positioning Psyche as a chance to glimpse the inside of rocky planets, if that core theory holds.
The spacecraft should spend roughly two years circling the asteroid, collecting data on its surface features, gravity, magnetic field, and chemical makeup. According to The Associated Press, Psyche stands out: few objects in the asteroid belt are believed to contain so much metal, despite that region’s abundance of rocky and icy bodies.
After the Mars flyby, Lindy Elkins-Tanton, principal investigator for the mission, summed it up: “Onward to the asteroid Psyche!” NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)
