"NASA's Psyche spacecraft captures stunning 'first light' image on its journey to a metal asteroid"

NASA's Psyche spacecraft, on its way to study the metal asteroid 16 Psyche, has captured its "first light" image, a mosaic of stars visible from its vantage point. The spacecraft's imaging instrument, consisting of twin cameras, took a total of 68 separate images to create the portrait. The team will use these star images to test the imager's functionality before its flyby of Mars in 2026 and the ultimate goal of capturing images of the target asteroid in 2029. The mission aims to analyze the composition of 16 Psyche, which is believed to be made mostly of iron and nickel, similar to Earth's core.