NASA’s Psyche spacecraft, on its way to a metal-rich asteroid, used Mars as a gravitational slingshot in May 2026, skimming just 2,800 miles above the planet to gain the speed it needed — Mars as a stepping stone rather than a destination

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NASA’s Psyche spacecraft did not go to Mars because Mars was the destination. It went there because Mars was in the right place to do what rockets would otherwise have had to do with propellant: change the spacecraft’s path and speed. On May 15, 2026, Psyche passed close above the Red Planet on its way [...] The post NASA’s Psyche spacecraft, on its way to a metal-rich asteroid, used Mars as a gravitational slingshot in May 2026, skimming just 2,800 miles above the planet to gain the speed it needed — Mars as a stepping stone rather than a destination appeared first on Space Daily .