Psyche's Mission Plan
Psyche's Mission Plan
NASA's Psyche spacecraft takes a spiral path to the asteroid Psyche. After launch, the Psyche spacecraft is expected to fly by Mars in May 2026. Harnessing the Red Planet's gravity, Psyche will use the speed at which Mars travels around the Sun to increase the spacecraft's own speed and change its direction without using much propellant. Psyche will travel into the main asteroid belt, where the gravity of its namesake asteroid is expected to capture the spacecraft in July 2029. The spacecraft's orbital operations start in August 2029 (marked here as "Psyche arrival").