NASA’s Psyche probe is about to slingshot around Mars at 12,000 mph
NASA’s Psyche spacecraft is about to pull off a dramatic close flyby of Mars, skimming just 2,800 miles above the planet to get a powerful gravitational boost on its journey to the mysterious metal-rich asteroid Psyche. The maneuver will save propellant while giving mission scientists a rare chance to test and calibrate the spacecraft’s instruments using Mars as a target.
What happened
NASA’s Psyche spacecraft is about to pull off a dramatic close flyby of Mars, skimming just 2,800 miles above the planet to get a powerful gravitational boost on its journey to the mysterious metal-rich asteroid Psyche. The maneuver will save propellant while giving mission scientists a rare chance to test and calibrate the spacecraft’s instruments using Mars as a target. The development sits squarely in the the news cycle cycle that our editors have been tracking this week, touching on rare, scientists, spacecraft.
Why this matters
This story sits at the intersection of several themes our editors have been tracking. We'll be watching to see how it ripples through the rest of the week.
The bigger picture
This release fits into a broader pattern our team has been tracking across the daily news cycle.
What to watch
We'll update if the story develops materially in the coming hours.
Originally reported by Sciencedaily. Read the original report for full context.