NASA's Psyche Spacecraft Captured a Time-Lapse Video of its Mars Flyby
NASA's Psyche spacecraft successfully captured a time-lapse video of Mars during a gravity-assist flyby conducted in May. The maneuver allowed the mission to test its scientific instruments, which performed as expected while providing supplemental data on the Martian environment.
Why it matters
Successful instrument testing confirms the spacecraft is prepared for its primary mission to study the metal-rich asteroid 16 Psyche, which could offer insights into planetary formation.
NASA's Psyche mission is on its way to check out the asteroid 16 Psyche, a massive and metal-rich asteroid in the main asteroid belt. It was launched in October 2023 and will reach its target in August 2029.
On its way, it used a gravity-assist maneuver at Mars to gain speed and give a slight change to its trajectory. The flyby brought it to within about 3500 km (2200 mi) of Mars, and provided an opportunity to test the spacecraft's science instruments. That was back in May, and it took months to download and analyze the data.
Psyche's instruments delivered observations of things we already know about Mars, so the results showed that the instruments are performing exactly as designed. Some of Psyche's data will also complement what we already know about the planet.
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