NASA’s Psyche spacecraft just used Mars as a giant slingshot on its journey to a mysterious metal world that could reveal what’s hidden inside planets like Earth.
NASA’s Psyche spacecraft successfully completed a close flyby of Mars on May 15, passing just 2,864 miles (4,609 kilometers) above the planet’s surface. The maneuver used Mars’ gravity to increase the spacecraft’s speed and slightly alter its path without consuming onboard fuel, helping send the mission toward its final destination, the metal-rich asteroid Psyche.
The spacecraft is now traveling directly toward the asteroid, which orbits in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. After the flyby, mission engineers used radio signals exchanged between the spacecraft and NASA’s Deep Space Network (DSN), the agency’s worldwide communications system for deep space missions, to verify that Psyche was precisely on course.
“Although we were confident in our calculations and flight plan, monitoring the DSN’s Doppler signal in real time during the flyby was still exciting,” said Don Han, Psyche’s navigation lead at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. “We’ve confirmed that Mars gave the spacecraft a 1,000-mile-per-hour boost and shifted its orbital plane by about 1 degree relative to the Sun. We are now on course for arrival at the asteroid Psyche in summer 2029.”
Rare Crescent Views of Mars
In the days before and during the flyby, the spacecraft activated all of its scientific instruments for calibration testing. These included its cameras, magnetometers, and gamma-ray and neutron spectrometer. The Mars encounter served as a valuable rehearsal for operations at the asteroid while also giving scientists an unusual view of the Red Planet.
Because Psyche approached Mars from a steep angle relative to the Sun, the planet appeared as a thin crescent illuminated by sunlight reflecting from its surface. Images captured by the spacecraft’s multispectral imager showed the crescent extending farther around Mars than scientists expected. Researchers say the effect was caused by sunlight scattering through the planet’s dusty atmosphere. As Psyche moved from the nighttime side of Mars into daylight during closest approach, the spacecraft rapidly photographed the surface below.
“We’ve captured thousands of images of the approach to Mars and of the planet’s surface and atmosphere at close approach. This dataset provides unique and important opportunities for us to calibrate and characterize the performance of the cameras, as well as test the early versions of our image processing tools being developed for use at the asteroid Psyche,” said Jim Bell, the Psyche imager instrument lead at Arizona State University (ASU) in Tempe. “As the spacecraft continues its journey after the flyby, we’ll continue calibration imaging of Mars for the rest of the month as it recedes into the distance.”
Bell also leads the Mastcam-Z imaging investigation on NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover mission team. Several other Mars missions contributed additional atmospheric and surface observations during the flyby to support calibration efforts. Those missions included NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, 2001 Mars Odyssey orbiter, and Curiosity rover, along with ESA’s (European Space Agency’s) Mars Express and ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter.
Testing Instruments Before Reaching Asteroid Psyche
Scientists also gathered early calibration data from Psyche’s other instruments during the flyby. Initial measurements from the spacecraft’s magnetometers may have detected Mars’ bow shock, the region where solar wind interacts with the planet’s magnetic environment. Meanwhile, the gamma-ray and neutron spectrometer team rapidly collected data to compare with decades of existing Mars observations.
With the Mars encounter complete, Psyche will soon restart its solar electric propulsion system and continue toward the asteroid belt. The spacecraft is scheduled to arrive at asteroid Psyche in August 2029.
Scientists believe the asteroid may be the exposed partial core of a planetesimal, one of the ancient building blocks that formed planets early in the solar system’s history. Once in orbit around Psyche, the spacecraft will conduct a detailed survey of the asteroid, which measures about 173 miles (280 kilometers) across at its widest point. The mission will gradually shift through multiple orbital paths at different altitudes while mapping the surface and gathering scientific data.
If Psyche truly represents the metallic interior of an ancient world, researchers say it could provide a rare opportunity to study material normally hidden deep inside rocky planets such as Earth.
“We’ve been anticipating the Mars flyby for years, but now it’s complete. We can thank the Red Planet for giving our spacecraft a critical gravitational slingshot farther into the solar system,” said Lindy Elkins-Tanton, principal investigator for Psyche at the University of California, Berkeley. “Onward to the asteroid Psyche!”
About NASA’s Psyche Mission
The Psyche mission is led by ASU. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), a division of Caltech in Pasadena, manages the mission’s overall operations, engineering, integration, and testing. Intuitive Machines in Palo Alto, California, supplied the spacecraft chassis used for the mission’s high-power solar electric propulsion system.
ASU oversees operations for the spacecraft’s imaging instrument in collaboration with Malin Space Science Systems in San Diego, which helped design, build, and test the cameras.
Psyche is the 14th mission selected through NASA’s Discovery Program, managed by the agency’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. NASA’s Launch Services Program at Kennedy Space Center in Florida oversaw the launch services for the mission.
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