A Spacecraft Skimmed 2,800 Miles From Mars, And Captured This Breathtaking, Trippy Timelapse

NASA just completed a high-stakes flyby of Mars as part of the ongoing Psyche mission. The spacecraft passed within 2,800 miles of the Martian surface, hitting speeds over 12,000 miles per hour. This maneuver served two purposes: calibrating onboard sensors and using the planet's gravity to accelerate the probe toward its ultimate destination.

During the encounter, the probe captured a new timelapse of Mars. It also imaged the south polar cap and the Huygens crater, while collecting data on the planet's bow shock. Navigation teams confirmed the slingshot maneuver provided a 1,000 mile-per-hour speed boost, which keeps the mission on track to reach the metallic asteroid 16 Psyche in 2029.

This mission targets a unique object in the asteroid belt located between Mars and Jupiter. Scientists suspect this asteroid is the exposed iron core of an ancient planetesimal. If this theory holds, it offers a rare look at the remnants of early solar system collisions. The spacecraft is currently in good condition and remains on its trajectory.

The probe carries a range of instruments, including a multispectral imager and a magnetometer to study the asteroid's composition and magnetic history. It is also testing laser-based deep space communication. By the time it arrives at the target in three years, the mission aims to clarify whether the object is a solid metal core or a rubble pile similar to other asteroids studied in recent years.