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In the story at the link below, the authors report on discovery of a moonlet orbiting the asteroid ...
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technolo … d1de&ei=22
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The Psyche spacecraft is "near" Mars (as seen from Earth in 2026)...
I asked Google for a bit more information about Psyche (the asteroid) and it came up with this summary:
Asteroid Psyche
Yes, the asteroid 16 Psyche is located in the outer part of the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. It orbits the Sun at a distance of 2.5 to 3.3 Astronomical Units (AU). It is one of the largest and most massive asteroids in the belt, known for its metallic composition.NASA Science (.gov)
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Key Details About Psyche's Location:
Location: Situated in the main asteroid belt, far from Earth (between 186 million and 372 million miles away).Orbit: Takes approximately five Earth years to complete one orbit around the Sun.
Mission: NASA's Psyche spacecraft, which launched in October 2023, is currently traveling to study this, arriving in 2029.
Characteristics: It is a large, M-type (metallic) asteroid, likely the exposed, iron-nickel core of a protoplanet, measuring roughly 140–173 miles in diameter.
NASA Science (.gov)
There is a very good reason Psyche (the spacecraft) is showing up close to Mars. Flight planners will pull energy from Mars to fling Psyche out to the asteroid belt. Here is Google's summary of the maneuver:
Psyche's Mission Plan | NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)
Yes, the NASA Psyche spacecraft is scheduled to perform a Mars gravity assist in May 2026. This flyby will use the Red Planet’s gravity to "slingshot" the probe, providing a significant velocity boost and changing its direction toward the main asteroid belt without using extra fuel.
NASA (.gov)
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Key details regarding the maneuver:Purpose: The gravity assist helps propel the spacecraft on its 2.2-billion-mile journey toward the metallic asteroid 16 Psyche.
Efficiency: This maneuver reduces the amount of propellant the spacecraft needs for its journey.
Primary Propulsion: While coasting, the spacecraft primarily uses efficient solar electric propulsion (ion thrusters).
Arrival: Following the boost, the spacecraft is scheduled to begin orbiting the asteroid in August 2029.
NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) (.gov)
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The mission, managed by NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), aims to study the asteroid to understand the early formation of rocky planets.YouTube
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This question was about how close the spacecraft will fly to Mars:
During its Mars flyby in May 2026, NASA's Psyche spacecraft will pass approximately 1,900 to 2,700 miles (3,000 to 4,400 kilometers) above the surface of Mars. This close approach serves as a gravity-assist maneuver, enabling the spacecraft to gain speed and adjust its trajectory toward the main asteroid belt.
NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) (.gov)
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Closest Approach: Occurs in May 2026.Purpose: To use Mars' gravity to accelerate the spacecraft, saving propellant for its journey to the asteroid 16 Psyche.
Speed: The spacecraft will travel at roughly 13,000 mph (21,000 kph) relative to the surface of Mars.
Journey Status: Launched in October 2023, the spacecraft is on a six-year journey to arrive at the metallic asteroid in 2029.
NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) (.gov)
NewMars members will have a rare opportunity to "observe" a flyby maneuver, thanks to the fortuitous combination of NASA flight planning and the daily updates to the Mars Business Calendar here on NewMars.com/forums.
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Psyche (spacecraft) is approaching Mars for a flyby in May. The approach is visible in theskylive.com/mars-tracker
I asked Google how far the spacecraft is today, and it was unable to answer that question. However, it ** did ** come back with links to numerous articles about the mission:
Psyche Mission Overview
NASA Science (.gov)
https://science.nasa.gov › mission › mission-overview
This illustration depicts the 140-mile-wide (226-kilometer-wide) asteroid Psyche, which lies in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. NASA/JPL- ...Read more
Psyche (spacecraft)Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Psyche_(spacecraft)
The spacecraft will not land on the asteroid, but will orbit it from August 5, 2029, to October 31, 2031, spending 817 days in orbit. Psyche uses solar-powered ...Read more
Missing: estimate | Show results with: estimate
How Far Away Is Psyche Spacecraft from Earth?The Sky Live
https://theskylive.com › Space Probes › Psyche Spacecraft
The distance of Psyche Spacecraft from Earth is currently 350,166,292.56 Kilometers ( 217,629,765.42 Miles), equivalent to 2.3407170899 Astronomical Units.Read more
Missing: estimate | Show results with: estimate
Psyche MissionNational Space Centre
https://www.spacecentre.co.uk › news › space-now-blog
Sep 26, 2023 — The Psyche asteroid takes about five years to orbit the Sun at a distance of between 378 million kilometres and 497 million kilometres. The ...Read more
Missing: estimate | Show results with: estimate
Let's Get Metal – Getting Psyched for PsycheMuseum of Science
https://www.mos.org › article › lets-get-metal-getting-psy...
Once Spacecraft Psyche actually launches, it has a long journey ahead of it, about 2.2 billion miles all told (spacecraft are rarely able to take a direct trip ...Read more
Could data from Mars one day be relayed by lasers? ...Facebook · NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
580+ reactions · 1 year ago
NASA achieved the first Laser optical transmission beyond lunar orbit, sent to Earth by the Psyche Probe, 16 million km (Ifl science) A message ...Read more
Psyche Mission FAQUniversity of California, Berkeley
https://psyche.ssl.berkeley.edu › Mission
From launch to arrival at the first science orbit around the asteroid, the spacecraft will travel 1,496,883,202 (~1.5 billion) miles or 2,409,000,000 (~2.4 ...Read more
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Asteroid PsycheNASA Science (.gov)
https://science.nasa.gov › asteroids › 16-psyche
Psyche orbits the Sun between Mars and Jupiter at a distance ranging from 235 million to 309 million miles (378 million to 497 million kilometers) from the Sun.Read more
Psyche's Flyby of Mars: A First Test for the MagnetometersHarvard University
https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu › abs › abstract
by K Webster · 2022 — Current estimates of the magnetic field strength at Psyche have a wide range from 0.2 nT to 38,000 nT, thus indicating the need for these dynamic ranges. The ...Read more
Missing: distance | Show results with: distance
ESA - Europe's first deep-space optical communication linkEuropean Space Agency
https://www.esa.int › Enabling_Support › Operations › E...
Jul 10, 2025 — The link was made with NASA's Deep Space Optical Communications (DSOC) experiment aboard its Psyche mission, currently at a distance of 1.8 ...Read more
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Update:
The spacecraft Psyche now has it's own tab on the NASA "eyes" site!
https://eyes.nasa.gov/apps/solar-system/#/home
I'll go back to see what it shows, after reporting the new feature on the home page.
This new service is impressive. There is no way to thank the staff who worked so hard on this presentation.
The only (minor quibble) I have is that in "follow" mode, the sky background does not change. In actual flight, if we are looking along the line of flight of the spacecraft, we should see the sky moving slowly, and then rapidly as the spacecraft swings by Mars. That might have been more work to implement than the staff could afford. As it is, the simulation appears to show Mars in the correct size, and it shows the movements of the Moon's and a number of spacecraft circling Mars.
The default time rate is 10 minutes per second of simulation time.
Based upon feedback to this point, it is impossible to know how many NewMars members or viewers are taking advantage of the hard work of the NASA JPL staff in preparing this nice feature.
I wonder if the spacecraft itself will image Mars as it goes by.
Update: The answer appears to be yes... Gemini found reports that Psyche took images of 3I/ATLAS in June of 2025, and it will be looking at Mars in association with the flyby. Here are a few more details from Gemini:
Until the next orbital milestone!
Quick Summary for your records:
Perimars: May 15, 2026, 19:00 UTC.
Distance: ~11,575 km from center / ~8,185 km from surface.
Key Source: NASA JPL Horizons System & Psyche Mission Blog.
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The Psyche spacecraft will swing by Mars tomorrow. Links to see the NASA animation are provided in the daily Calendar update.
Here is a report that showed up in the Internet feed ...
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/nasa-space … -asteroid/
NASA spacecraft to fly past Mars this week, on voyage to rare metal asteroid
ByEmily Mae Czachor
News Editor
Emily Mae Czachor is a reporter and news editor at CBSNews.com. She typically covers breaking news, extreme weather and issues involving social justice. Emily Mae previously wrote for outlets like the Los Angeles Times, BuzzFeed and Newsweek.May 14, 2026 / 9:50 AM EDT / CBS News
Add CBS News on GoogleA NASA spacecraft headed toward the asteroid belt will fly past Mars on Friday, aiming to get a boost from the planet's gravitational field and save some of the propellant it needs to complete the second half of a six-year voyage.
The spacecraft, called Psyche after the rare asteroid it will explore, launched in October 2023. At the time, it set out on a 2.2-billion-mile journey to the metal-rich celestial rock, which scientists believe may hold clues about how the cores of planets like Earth initially formed.
Psyche will travel quite close to Mars, coming within just 2,800 miles of the red planet's surface at its nearest point, according to NASA. Slingshotting past at about 12,333 miles per hour, the spacecraft "will harness the planet's gravitational pull to speed up and adjust its trajectory" toward the asteroid, the agency said.
The asteroid that scientists have described as a "metal world" and "one of the more unusual objects in our solar system" sits in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. NASA's explorer is expected to approach and begin orbiting the ultimate target of its mission at the end of 2029.
But the spacecraft will take advantage of the opportunity to observe Mars in the meantime. The team operating it has already released an image of the planet from about 3 million miles away.
psyche-mars.jpgThis image of Mars was captured by NASA's Psyche mission on May 3, 2026, about 3 million miles from the planet. NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU
NASA said the operators plan to use the observations taken during Friday's flyby to compile a time-lapse of the encounter. One of them, Jim Bell of Arizona State University, said in a statement that Mars may not have its characteristic reddish hue in some of the images, although he still anticipates they'll be "just plain beautiful."
The spacecraft will also be able to test a satellite feature that it could eventually use to search for objects in the asteroid Psyche's orbit.
"Ultimately, though, the only reason for this flyby is to get a little help from Mars to speed us up and tilt our trajectory in the direction of the asteroid Psyche," said Lindy Elkins-Tanton, a lead investigator on the spacecraft's operations teams, in another statement. "But if all our instruments are powered up, and we can do important testing and calibration of the science instruments, that would be the icing on the cake."
The video player is currently playing an ad.Only a small portion of the objects floating in the asteroid belt are believed to be rich in metal like the asteroid Psyche, which scientists believe contains nickel and iron. They suspect it may be the exposed core of a rocky planet, potentially offering insights the formations and evolutions of planets like our own, according to NASA's mission overview.
Once in the asteroid's orbit, NASA's spacecraft is slated to take pictures of the asteroid's surface and shed light on its composition, over the course of about two years.
William Harwood contributed to this report.
The bend of the spacecraft around Mars is much less than I had imagined, but that is likely a consequence of the velocity it has as it approaches Mars. The gravity of Mars has been pulling on Psyche for some time, so it will have a significant additional velocity as it passes.
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