NASA’s Psyche Mission Sees Mars’ South Pole After Flyby

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NASA’s Psyche Mission Sees Mars’ South Pole After Flyby

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This is Psyche’s first view of a nearly “full Mars” seen shortly after the spacecraft’s closest approach to the planet on May 15, 2026. The view extends from the south polar cap northwards to the Valles Marineris canyon system and beyond.

With Mars in the rearview mirror, the spacecraft will soon resume use of its solar-electric propulsion system to make a beeline to the main asteroid belt, between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. When it arrives in August 2029, it will insert itself into orbit around the asteroid Psyche, which is thought to be the partial core of a planetesimal, a building block of an early planet.

For more information about NASA’s Psyche mission, visit:

https://science.nasa.gov/mission/psyche/

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