Mars Captured

NASA's Psyche mission captured a colorized image of Mars on May 3, 2026, about 3 million miles away. The spacecraft is approaching Mars for a gravity assist on May 15 to boost its speed and adjust its trajectory toward asteroid Psyche.

The image was acquired by the multispectral imager instrument's panchromatic filter with an exposure time of 2 milliseconds. The crescent-shaped Mars appears extremely bright, with parts of the image oversaturated.

The observation will help calibrate the cameras and characterize their performance in flight as a practice run for the approach to asteroid Psyche in 2029. For more information, visit NASA's Psyche mission page.