Psyche's Mars moment: a crescent, not a solar eclipse
TL;DR Summary
NASA's asteroid-hunting Psyche spacecraft captured a striking crescent image of Mars as it nears a May 15 flyby; the 'crescent' is sunlight reflecting off Mars' day side with atmospheric/dust effects, not an eclipse. The maneuver will also serve as a gravity assist and instrument calibration on Psyche's path to the asteroid 16 Psyche in 2029.
- No, this isn't a solar eclipse. It's an image of Mars, captured by NASA's asteroid-bound Psyche probe Space
- NASA’s Psyche Mission to Fly by Mars for Gravity Assist NASA Science (.gov)
- NASA spacecraft to swing past Mars as it chases rare metal asteroid PBS
- NASA spacecraft to fly past Mars this week, on voyage to rare metal asteroid CBS News
- The Psyche mission will fly by Mars tomorrow! EarthSky
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