Explanation: Solar System bodies make deep space exploration more fuel efficient! Today’s video shows the Psyche spacecraft gaining speed and changing its trajectory with minimal fuel expenditure thanks to the gravitational assistance of Mars in May 2026. Mars has an average orbital speed of almost 87,000 km/h (54,000 mph) around the Sun. Its orbital motion
This composite photograph released on July 17, 2026 shows Mars’ crescent growing as NASA’s Psyche spacecraft approaches the planet for gravitational assistance. Psyche flew by Mars on May 15, 2026, using the planet’s gravity to gain speed and slightly tilt its trajectory. The flyby also gave the team a chance to prepare for the science
This composite of images taken by NASA’s Psyche mission shows the Mars crescent growing as the spacecraft approaches the planet for gravitational assistance from May 2 to 15, 2026. The series begins with the smaller crescent in the center of the image when Mars is furthest from the spacecraft, and progressively grows larger as the
Captured by the multispectral imaging instrument on NASA’s Psyche mission, this is a color-enhanced mosaic created from four individual images acquired on May 15, 2026, during the spacecraft’s flyby of Mars. Psyche traveled from right to left (northeast to southwest on Mars) during the six minutes it took to acquire the images for this mosaic,