A Spacecraft Skimmed 2,800 Miles From Mars, And Captured This Breathtaking, Trippy Timelapse

By Josie Calloway · Reporting from Pittsburgh ·

The latest from NASA’s Psyche spacecraft isn't just pretty pictures; it’s another masterclass in how humanity systematically extends its reach until the resources are drained dry.

The Gravity Assist Was Years in the Making, Setting Us on a Path to Rendezvous

The latest from NASA’s Psyche spacecraft isn't just pretty pictures; it’s another masterclass in how humanity systematically extends its reach until the resources are drained dry. On May 15, 2026, Psyche completed its flyby of Mars, skimming around 4,600 kilometers away at over 19,848 kilometers per hour. The mission was a technical triumph—a gravity assist that Bob Mase of JPL confirmed "was years in the making." Lindy Elkins-Tanton noted that all instruments delivered great results, and even Ben Weiss from MIT detailed how the magnetometer saw an intense uptick corresponding to the bow shock region where solar wind slams into Mars’s magnetic field.

The reporting across outlets like science.nasa.gov and petapixel.com makes this sound like a pure scientific achievement: testing sensors, capturing views of the Huygens crater, and getting ready for the big reveal in 2029 when Psyche hits its target—a metal asteroid supposedly worth 700 quintillion dollars (as msn.com noted). They frame it as discovery, but I see only a pattern.

From Red Planet Flyby to Metallic Asteroid Harvest

The true mechanism here isn't science; it’s resource acquisition disguised by advanced engineering. The mission is designed to prove that the asteroid Psyche—a body roughly the size of Massachusetts—is rich in metal. They are using Mars as a stand-in, a giant celestial calibration tool, just like they used the ER trauma bay during COVID to practice triage.

This pattern reminds me too much of the Age of Discovery. Both events represent humanity’s systematic effort to extend its knowledge and influence into previously isolated domains using advanced means of travel. In both cases—the 15th-century European seafarer sailing toward spices, or today's spacecraft heading for a metallic core—the narrative is always about finding something valuable that was previously inaccessible. The shared mechanism isn't exploration; it’s the establishment of supply lines and the mapping of extractable wealth.

We Didn’t Anticipate Big Discoveries, But We Did Complement Mars Science

The scientists are careful to say they "didn’t anticipate big discoveries," but every single piece of data collected—from David Lawrence's spectrometer detecting count-rate enhancement to Jim Bell capturing rare views of the Red Planet—is meticulously cataloged and utilized. It all serves one purpose: validating the instruments needed for the ultimate extraction project.

The Age of Discovery laid the groundwork for global trade networks, creating colonial empires whose primary function was funneling raw materials back to European centers of power. The pattern is identical: advanced technology provides access; systemic greed dictates the destination. We are taught that science is inherently pure, but when the goal is a metal asteroid "worth 700 quintillion," the motive becomes brutally clear.

This whole spectacle—the flyby images captured by NASA's Psyche mission—is not about understanding planetary physics; it’s about perfecting the infrastructure for resource extraction. We should be focusing our public investment on keeping rural hospitals open and ensuring that nobody rations insulin, not sending multi-billion dollar probes to validate mining operations in space. The cycle of discovery always ends with someone paying the cost, and historically, that cost is paid by the people who live nearest the resources.

Sources

  1. petapixel.com: NASA's Psyche Spacecraft Captures Mind-Bending Month-Long Timelapse of Mars | PetaPixel
  2. skyatnightmagazine.com: NASA has just released a jaw-dropping video of a spacecraft's view as it zoomed past Mars. You've got to see this | BBC Sky at Night Magazine
  3. science.nasa.gov: NASA’s Psyche Mission Delivers Mars Flyby Data, Time-lapse Video