NASA has just released a jaw-dropping video of a spacecraft's view as it zoomed past Mars. You've got to see this - BBC Sky at Night Magazine

What the report says

BBC Sky at Night Magazine reports that NASA has released new video and imagery from its Psyche spacecraft showing Mars during a close flyby in May 2026. Psyche is travelling to the metal-rich asteroid of the same name in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, with arrival expected in July 2029. During the Mars encounter, the spacecraft passed about 4,609 km, or 2,864 miles, from the planet, producing views that include a crescent Mars, cratered terrain, the south polar ice cap, Valles Marineris and the large double-ringed Huygens crater.

The report says the flyby was not only a photo opportunity but a planned gravity assist, using Mars’ pull to adjust Psyche’s path and conserve fuel on its long journey. The encounter also allowed mission teams to check the spacecraft’s science instruments before the asteroid phase of the mission. NASA’s team said the imager, magnetometer, and gamma-ray and neutron spectrometer all returned useful results consistent with expectations.

According to the article, Psyche’s multispectral cameras captured the Mars imagery and also helped test calibration and sensitivity, including observations of Phobos and Deimos that may inform later searches for possible small moons around asteroid Psyche. The neutron spectrometer registered an expected increase near closest approach, while the magnetometer detected a strong magnetic-field change associated with Mars’ bow shock, where solar wind interacts with the planet’s magnetic environment.

The development matters because the Mars flyby both advanced Psyche toward its target and gave engineers a real planetary test of instruments designed to study whether asteroid Psyche may be linked to the metallic core of an early planetary building block. The spacecraft remains on course for its 2029 rendezvous, according to the report.