Downward Angle Icon An icon in the shape of a downward angle. Artistic concept showing what Psyche looks like. NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU NASA has announced a new mission to a metal-rich asteroid called 16 Psyche. 16 The metals believed to be in Psyche are worth 100 quintillion dollars on Earth. But NASA has no intention of mining asteroids for resources.
NASA visits asteroids in our solar system that are worth more than the entire world economy, but that's not the purpose.
The space agency today launched an unmanned spacecraft to explore a potato-shaped asteroid called Psyche.
According to NASA, this chunk of metal-rich rock orbits between 235 million and 309 million miles away, or about three times the distance that Earth orbits the sun. .
Psyche, also known as 16 Psyche, is the 16th asteroid discovered in 1852 by Italian astronomer Annibale de Gaspari.
Gasparis named it after the Greek goddess of the soul, and it is located between Mars and Jupiter, NASA said.
go where no one has gone before
NASA has never been to an asteroid like this. What makes Psyche so unique and different from other asteroid missions is its configuration.
Scientists believe that Psyche is made mostly of rock and metal, with metals making up about 30% to 60% of the asteroid.
Some believe that Psyche contains metals such as iron and nickel, researchers who studied the asteroid told Space.com.
The metals believed to be in Psyche would be worth more than $1 quintillion if found on Earth — more than the value of the entire world economy, said the Psyche project's chief scientist. Lindy Elkins-Tanton told Space.com.
But NASA has no intention of going to Psyche for the money, and they don't even have the technology to mine asteroids.
Why NASA will visit asteroid 16 Psyche
Psyche's origins are a bit of a mystery. It could be a chunk of the core of a planetesimal, a precursor to a rocky planet. Or it could be the entire iron-rich core of a planetesimal.
Perhaps it is a remnant of another type of celestial object from another part of the solar system. During the formation of our solar system, violent collisions may have stripped away its outer layers.
NASA scientists want to learn more about Psyche. That's because the asteroid could provide clues about Earth's own core, including how it formed and grew.
Scientists now have a hint at what 16 Psyche might look like thanks to a computer-generated 3D model. There appear to be two craters, but they won't be able to tell until the asteroid's gravity grabs the spacecraft. It is expected to happen in July 2029.
The Psyche spacecraft will then spend two years orbiting the asteroid, taking photos, mapping its surface, and collecting other data about its composition.
NASA said the visit could “provide a unique window into the violent history of collisions and material accumulation that gave rise to planets like ours.”