NASA’s Psyche spacecraft, en route to the asteroid Psyche, used a gravity assist from Mars in May. The agency released a timelapse that stitches thousands of images from the multispectral imager, showcasing the planet’s crescent shape and southern ice as the probe passed.

The capture began on May 2 and peaked at the closest approach on May 15. The imager delivered rarely seen views of the red planet, according to instrument lead Jim Bell of Arizona State University.

Beyond beauty, the data validated the imager’s calibration and sensitivity to scattered light. It even resolved the Martian moons Phobos and Deimos from a great distance, a rehearsal for searching moonlets around the asteroid target.

Psyche is expected to reach the eponymous asteroid in 2029, where it will conduct its primary mission.