NASA's Psyche Spacecraft Slingshots Past Mars at 12,000 mph Toward Asteroid 16 Psyche
Updated
Updated · The Weather Channel · Aug 1
NASA's Psyche Spacecraft Slingshots Past Mars at 12,000 mph Toward Asteroid 16 Psyche
3 articles · Updated · The Weather Channel · Aug 1
Summary
NASA's Psyche spacecraft flew about 2,800 miles above Mars, using the planet's gravity to gain speed and redirect its path deeper into the solar system.
The maneuver was a gravity assist rather than a science flyby, with Mars serving as a waypoint on Psyche's longer journey to asteroid 16 Psyche.
16 Psyche stands out because scientists think it is largely metallic and could be the exposed core — or skeleton — of a dead planet.
Summer 2029 is the target arrival window, when the mission is expected to deliver the first close-up answers about what the unusual asteroid actually looks like.