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NASA’s Psyche Mission Images Mars’ Huygens Crater
NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU Photojournal Navigation Downloads NASA’s Psyche Mission Images Mars’ Huygens Crater
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Captured by the multispectral imager instrument on NASA’s Psyche mission, this is an enhanced-color view of the large double-ring crater Huygens (upper left; about 290 miles, or 470 kilometers, in diameter) and the surrounding heavily cratered southern highlands near 15 degrees south latitude. The various colors in this dramatic scene are likely due to differences in the compositional properties of dust, sand, and bedrock in this ancient terrain. The image scale is around 2,200 feet (670 meters) per pixel.
The image was acquired with Imager A on May 15, 2026, at about 1:18 p.m. PDT, shortly after closest approach with the planet. The images have been processed into an enhanced-color view (to bring out color details beyond what the human eye can see) using red, green, and blue data from imager filters.
For more information about NASA’s Psyche mission, visit:
https://science.nasa.gov/mission/psyche/
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NASA’s Psyche Mission Spies Mars’ Wind-Blown Craters During Close Approach
NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU Photojournal Navigation Downloads NASA’s Psyche Mission Spies Mars’ Wind-Blown Craters During Close Approach
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This view of the Martian surface, captured by NASA’s Psyche spacecraft on May 15, 2026, shows streaks that have formed due to wind blowing over impact craters in the Syrtis Major region. The image scale is nearly 1,200 feet (360 meters) per pixel. The wind streaks extend to about 30 miles (50 kilometers) long, and the large craters near center-bottom of the scene average around 30 miles in diameter.
The images have been processed into a natural-color view (approximating what the human eye would see) using red, green, and blue data from imager filters.
For more information about NASA’s Psyche mission, visit:
https://science.nasa.gov/mission/psyche/
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Psyche’s High-Resolution View of Mars’ South Pole
NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU Photojournal Navigation Downloads Psyche’s High-Resolution View of Mars’ South Pole
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This is the highest-resolution view of the water ice-rich south polar cap of Mars captured by NASA’s Psyche mission after it made its close approach with the planet for a gravity assist. The image scale is around 0.7 miles per pixel (1.14 kilometers per pixel). The cap itself extends across more than 430 miles (700 kilometers). The image was acquired with Imager A on May 15, 2026, at about 1:53 p.m. PDT.
With Mars in the rearview mirror, the spacecraft will soon resume use of its solar-electric propulsion system to make a beeline to the main asteroid belt, between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. When it arrives in August 2029, it will insert itself into orbit around the asteroid Psyche, which is thought to be the partial core of a planetesimal, a building block of an early planet.
For more information about NASA’s Psyche mission, visit:
https://science.nasa.gov/mission/psyche/
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NASA’s Psyche Mission Sees Mars’ South Pole After Flyby
NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU Photojournal Navigation Downloads NASA’s Psyche Mission Sees Mars’ South Pole After Flyby
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This is Psyche’s first view of a nearly “full Mars” seen shortly after the spacecraft’s closest approach to the planet on May 15, 2026. The view extends from the south polar cap northwards to the Valles Marineris canyon system and beyond.
With Mars in the rearview mirror, the spacecraft will soon resume use of its solar-electric propulsion system to make a beeline to the main asteroid belt, between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. When it arrives in August 2029, it will insert itself into orbit around the asteroid Psyche, which is thought to be the partial core of a planetesimal, a building block of an early planet.
For more information about NASA’s Psyche mission, visit:
https://science.nasa.gov/mission/psyche/
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NASA’s Psyche Mission Images the Crescent of Mars
NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU Photojournal Navigation Downloads NASA’s Psyche Mission Images the Crescent of Mars
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This view of a crescent Mars was captured on May 15, 2026, at about 5:03 a.m. PDT by NASA’s Psyche mission as it approached the planet for a gravity assist. Captured by the spacecraft’s multispectral imager instrument, this was the last view of the whole planet before it began to overfill the field of view of the camera.
Because Psyche approached Mars from a high phase angle, the planet appeared as a thin crescent in the days running up to the close approach, lit by sunlight reflecting off its surface. In observations from the spacecraft’s multispectral imagers, the crescent appeared brighter and extended farther around the planet’s disk than anticipated because of the strong scattering of sunlight through the planet’s dusty atmosphere.
The image was acquired with Imager A. It has been processed into a natural-color view (approximating what the human eye would see) using red, green, and blue data from imager filters.
For more information about NASA’s Psyche mission, visit:
https://science.nasa.gov/mission/psyche/
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