NASA has released a striking timelapse video showing the Psyche spacecraft's close flyby of Mars, which the probe used in May to gain a gravity-assisted speed boost on its long journey to the asteroid belt. The manoeuvre adjusted Psyche's trajectory and conserved propellant, keeping it on course to reach its ultimate target, the metal-rich asteroid Psyche, in 2029. The images also served a practical purpose, allowing engineers to test the spacecraft's imaging instrument ahead of its main mission.

The spacecraft began approaching Mars on 2 May and made its closest pass on 15 May, using its multispectral imager to capture thousands of photographs that were later stitched into a single timelapse showing the crescent planet, detailed surface features and its icy south pole. Jim Bell of Arizona State University, the mission's imager instrument lead, said the flyby also let the team calibrate the camera's sensitivity, successfully spotting the distant Martian moons Phobos and Deimos as practice for the moonlet search planned once Psyche reaches the asteroid.