NASA's Psyche spacecraft will use Mars' gravity today (May 15) for a crucial boost on its six-year journey to a metallic asteroid.

NASA's asteroid-bound spacecraft Psyche is headed for an encounter with Mars on Friday (May 15) to get a boost from the Red Planet.

NASA's Psyche spacecraft, launched in 2023 from Cape Canaveral, will use Mars' gravity for a boost on its six-year journey to a metallic asteroid.

A NASA spacecraft chasing a rare metal asteroid swings past Mars this week for a gravity boost, snapping thousands of pictures as practice for the main encounter in 2029. Named Psyche like the asteroid it’s after,

NASA’s Psyche spacecraft got a boost from Mars on May 15, passing just 2,800 miles (4,500 kilometers) from the planet’s surface at some 12,333 mph (19,794 kph). • The spacecraft harnessed the planet’s gravitational pull to speed up and adjust its trajectory toward the metal-rich asteroid Psyche.

The crucial manoeuvre scheduled for Friday will use the gravity of Mars to shift Psyche onto the right path, a faster and cheaper method NASA scientists say could help unlock clues about the birth of

On Thursday, NASA issued a Request for Proposal (RFP), seeking industry collaboration for the Mars Telecommunications Network.

NASA’s Psyche spacecraft will fly past Mars on May 15, 2026, using the planet’s gravity to accelerate toward asteroid Psyche.