NASA's Psyche spacecraft returns unfamiliar views of a familiar world

“As a bonus, it captured Mars images from a rare perspective,” NASA said in a press release. The spacecraft approached Mars from a high phase angle, or from the side opposite the Sun, making the planet appear as a thin crescent as Psyche moved in for the encounter. The wispiness of the thin Martian atmosphere was on full display, with sunlight shining through diffuse clouds of dust suspended dozens of miles over the sharp edge of the planet’s rust-colored surface. …