{"id":799721,"date":"2026-05-16T03:55:18","date_gmt":"2026-05-16T03:55:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/799721\/"},"modified":"2026-05-16T03:55:18","modified_gmt":"2026-05-16T03:55:18","slug":"psyche-spacecraft-bound-for-asteroid-belt-to-get-speed-boost-from-mars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/799721\/","title":{"rendered":"Psyche spacecraft bound for asteroid belt to get speed boost from Mars"},"content":{"rendered":"

A NASA spacecraft on a long journey to a strange metallic asteroid will have a close encounter with Mars<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Coming within just a few thousand miles of the red planet’s surface<\/a>, the Psyche vehicle will benefit from a gravity boost that will send it whizzing toward the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. The maneuver, expected for today (May 15) marks a crucial moment in the Psyche’s six-year voyage through space<\/a> to a captivating asteroid of the same name.<\/p>\n

Mars’ gravitational forces will not only help boost the spacecraft’s speed, but will give it a much needed rest as it enters its final leg.<\/p>\n

NASA releases thousands more Artemis II photos. Here are the best.<\/p>\n

1 of 15<\/p>\n

NASA released thousands of new photos taken during the Artemis II mission around the moon. The astronauts selected for the mission thoroughly documented the 10-day voyage, which included an April 6 lunar flyby as they traveled more than a quarter-million miles from Earth.<\/p>\n

Here’s everything to know about the Psyche spacecraft’s rendezvous with Earth’s closest planetary neighbor<\/a>, including how you can take a virtual look at a preview of what will happen.<\/p>\n

What is NASA’s Psyche mission?\"Artist's<\/p>\n

Artist’s concept illustration depicting the spacecraft of NASA’s Psyche mission near the targeted metal asteroid Psyche.<\/p>\n

NASA’s Psyche <\/a>spacecraft is on a mission to a distant metal-rich asteroid\u00a0of the same name<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Since launching in October 2023<\/a>, the shuttle has been traveling on a six-year, 2.2 billion-mile journey\u00a0to the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. Its final destination is a metallic asteroid of the same name that scientists hope to study in order to glean valuable insights about Earth’s own core.<\/p>\n

Psyche spacecraft to swing by and get pictures of Mars<\/p>\n

Just more than two and-a-half years into its travels, the Psyche spacecraft is due Friday, May 15 to come close to Mars.<\/p>\n

The vehicle, which already capture a glimpse of Mars<\/a> on its approach, will pass 2,800 mile above the Martian surface. During the flyby, Psyche plans to collect images and other data about the red planet that can be beamed back to Earth for analysis, according to NASA<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In honor of Earth Day, see these photos of our planet from space<\/p>\n

1 of 12<\/p>\n

The crew of Artemis II captured a breathtaking image of a celestial event known as an “Earthset,” in which the Earth dropped below the lunar horizon. The image is reminiscent of the iconic “Earthrise” photo that NASA astronaut Bill Anders captured in 1968 during the Apollo 8 mission that showed our planet rising on the lunar horizon.<\/p>\n

Mars’ gravity to provide boost to asteroid belt<\/p>\n

Perhaps more importantly, though, Mars’ gravity will provide a valuable boost to the Psyche spacecraft as it continues on its lengthy journey.<\/p>\n

The gravity assist maneuver will act not unlike a slingshot, propelling the spacecraft on a trajectory to arrive at the metallic main-belt asteroid Psyche in 2029, NASA explained<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Psyche spacecraft, which will be whizzing at an expected 12,333 mph when it reaches Mars, has been gradually gaining speed since its launch.<\/p>\n

But the mission team at NASA\u2019s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California plans to use the Mars flyby to harness some of the planet’s gravitational forces for even more of a boost. The maneuver should give the vehicle’s propulsion system a bit of a break and even save some propellant while adjusting its trajectory if needed, NASA said.<\/p>\n

The team will monitor the flyby by tracking Psyche’s radio signals beamed to NASA’s giant array radio network antennas\u00a0on Earth known as the Deep Space Network<\/a>. Other Mars orbiters and rovers<\/a> may also lend a hand by providing imaging observations and navigation data, according to NASA.<\/p>\n

You can preview event with NASA interactive map<\/p>\n

NASA’s online 3D interactive map, known as “Eyes on the Solar System<\/a>,” allows users to preview \u00a0how the event will unfold in real-time.<\/p>\n

Eric Lagatta is the Space Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at elagatta@usatodayco.com<\/p>\n

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NASA spacecraft bound for metal asteroid to fly past Mars today<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A NASA spacecraft on a long journey to a strange metallic asteroid will have a close encounter with…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":799722,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[24],"tags":[271851,3091,916,59667,159,783,325089,67,132,68],"class_list":["post-799721","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-space","tag-main-asteroid-belt","tag-mars","tag-nasa","tag-psyche","tag-science","tag-space","tag-the-psyche","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116582240956868764","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/799721","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=799721"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/799721\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/799722"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=799721"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=799721"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=799721"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}