NASA's asteroid-bound Psyche mission is headed for an encounter with Mars on Friday (May 15). The spacecraft, which is on its way to an asteroid also called Psyche, will come within around 2,800 miles (4,500 kilometers) of the Red Planet during the flyby.

The aim of this flyby is to utilize the gravity of

Mars to give

Psyche a boost to its already impressive speed of 12,333 miles per hour (19,848 kph). This will enable the spacecraft to adjust its trajectory towards the 173-mile-wide (280 km) metal-rich

asteroid 16 Psyche , (or just Psyche) which sits in the main asteroid belt between Mars and

Jupiter .

Mars as seen by NASA's Psyche asteroid probe on May 3, 2026.…