On schedule for its highly anticipated arrival at the asteroid Psyche in 2029, NASA’s Psyche spacecraft recently took a momentous look back at our home planet. From a staggering distance of approximately 180 million miles (290 million kilometers), the spacecraft captured breathtaking images of Earth and our Moon. These images were obtained during routine checkouts of the spacecraft’s science instruments, showcasing the incredible capabilities of this mission.
On July 20 and July 23, the spacecraft’s twin cameras executed multiple long-exposure shots, lasting up to 10 seconds each. In these images, Earth and the Moon appear as tiny dots, sparkling with reflected sunlight against the vast starfield of the constellation Aries. This remarkable feat underscores the advanced imaging technology employed by the Psyche mission.
The Psyche multispectral imager is equipped with a pair of identical cameras that incorporate filters and telescopic lenses. These tools allow scientists to photograph the surface of asteroid Psyche across different wavelengths of light. The unique color and shape of a planetary body’s spectrum can provide vital insights into its composition. For instance, both the Moon and the giant asteroid Vesta display similar “bumps and wiggles” in their spectra, which researchers aim to identify at Psyche.
Members of the mission’s science team are particularly interested in the Psyche mission because it offers the potential to deepen our understanding of how rocky planets with metallic cores, such as Earth, formed. When selecting targets for instrument testing and calibration, scientists specifically look for celestial bodies that reflect sunlight, just like the asteroid Psyche. They also choose objects with familiar spectra to compare previous data with the observations made by Psyche’s instruments.
Earlier this year, the spacecraft focused its lenses on Jupiter and Mars for calibration purposes, as these planets exhibit a more reddish spectrum compared to the bluer tones of Earth. This calibration process yielded successful results. To ensure the imager’s performance remains consistent, scientists compare data from various tests, allowing them to verify that the instrument functions as intended when it reaches orbit around Psyche.
“After this, we may look at Saturn or Vesta to help us continue to test the imagers,” explained Jim Bell, the imager instrument lead at Arizona State University in Tempe. “We’re sort of collecting solar system ‘trading cards’ from these different bodies and running them through our calibration pipeline to make sure we’re getting the right answers.”
The imager was not the only instrument to undergo a successful checkout in late July. The mission team also tested the spacecraft’s magnetometer and gamma-ray and neutron spectrometer, a procedure they perform every six months. “We are up and running, and everything is working well,” stated Bob Mase, the mission’s project manager at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. “We’re on target to fly by Mars in May 2026, and we are accomplishing all of our planned activities for cruise.”
This flyby of Mars represents a significant milestone for the Psyche spacecraft, which will use the planet's gravity as a slingshot to continue its journey toward the asteroid. This event will mark the first of two planned loops around the solar system, covering a distance of 1 billion miles (1.6 billion kilometers) since the spacecraft's launch from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in October 2023.
The Psyche mission is led by Arizona State University, with Lindy Elkins-Tanton of the University of California, Berkeley serving as the principal investigator. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), a division of Caltech in Pasadena, is responsible for managing the mission’s overall operations, system engineering, and testing. The high-power solar electric propulsion spacecraft chassis was provided by Maxar Technologies in Palo Alto, California. ASU leads the operations of the imager instrument in collaboration with Malin Space Science Systems in San Diego, which contributed to the design, fabrication, and testing of the cameras.
The Psyche mission is the 14th mission selected as part of NASA’s Discovery Program, overseen by the agency’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. The launch service was managed by NASA’s Launch Services Program, based at Kennedy Space Center. For more information about NASA’s Psyche mission, visit: NASA Psyche Mission.
