Psyche Mission · May 2026

Mars Flyby

NASA's Psyche spacecraft skims 2,800 miles above Mars for a gravity assist — picking up speed for its journey to metal-rich asteroid 16 Psyche.

SunEarth16 PsycheMars

Awaiting gravity assist

Telemetry

4.00km/s
Speed
ΔV Boost
Status

Mission Timeline

Mission Notes · cycles every 5.5s

Metal World

Asteroid 16 Psyche may be the exposed iron-nickel core of an ancient planetesimal that lost its rocky mantle in violent collisions billions of years ago — giving us a direct window into what the inside of a rocky planet looks like.

Inspired by NASA Psyche spacecraft Mars flyby, May 2026 — psyche.asu.edu