APOD: 2026 July 29 – Psyche Receives Gravity Assist from Mars
A video of the Psyche spacecraft flying by Mars.
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Psyche Captures Stunning Timelapse Video of Its Mars Encounter - YouTube
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Psyche Captures Stunning Timelapse Video of Its Mars Encounter NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
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# Psyche Receives Gravity Assist from Mars
Explanation: Solar System bodies make deep space exploration more fuel efficient! Today’s video shows the Psyche spacecraft gaining speed and changing its trajectory with minimal fuel spent due to a gravity assist from Mars in May 2026. Mars has an average orbital speed of almost 87,000 km/h (54,000 mph) around the Sun. Its orbital motion and its gravity allowed Mars to pull Psyche along with it, increasing the spacecraft’s speed. Gravity assists have been used since 1959’s Luna 3 mission to allow for spacecraft ( the Voyagers, Cassini) to reach farther than they could with fuel alone. This assist helped the Psyche spacecraft on its journey to the Psyche asteroid, which it will reach in 2029. While passing Mars, the spacecraft tested instruments that will analyze the asteroid’s composition and magnetic field. This is the first mission to an asteroid thought to be largely made of metal, an essential building block for planets, rather than rock or ice.
Find dark skies and look up this August to witness the Perseids meteor shower uninhibited by the Moon!
Tomorrow's picture: a red Sun
| Date | July 29, 2026 |
| Credit | NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/True Story Films |
| Authors & editors: | Robert Nemiroff, Jerry Bonnell, Cecilia Chirenti, Keighley Rockcliffe |
| A service of: | ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation & Michigan Tech. U. |
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