NASA's Psyche Probe Executes Gravity Assist Maneuver at Mars

On May 15, 2026, NASA's Psyche spacecraft performed a critical gravity assist maneuver by flying past Mars to gain velocity for its journey to the metallic asteroid 16 Psyche. Passing within 4,500 kilometers of the Martian surface, the probe utilized the planet's gravitational pull to accelerate without consuming fuel, a technique that saves significant time and resources compared to using its efficient but low-thrust Hall effect ion engines. This celestial handshake allows the spacecraft to steal momentum from Mars, which orbits the Sun at approximately 24 kilometers per second. Beyond the navigational boost, the flyby served as a valuable opportunity for engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory to stress-test scientific instruments. The mission team calibrated the magnetometer, gamma-ray and neutron spectrometer, and multispectral imager while monitoring cosmic ray flux and searching for potential dusty rings around Mars. Engineers confirmed the maneuver's success by analyzing Doppler shifts in radio signals. The primary objective remains reaching 16 Psyche, a unique nickel-iron asteroid believed to be the exposed core of an ancient protoplanet, marking the first exploration of such a metal world.