The US space agency “NASA” is close to launching a new mission linked to an asteroid valued at 10,000 quadrillion dollars, which is twice the width of the city of Wales in the United Kingdom and is located in the asteroid belt between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.
This summer, NASA will embark on a mission to study the mineral-rich object in an attempt to determine its origins, and thus this will be the first visit to a metal asteroid, with the Psyche probe taking off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida and then reaching its goal in early 2026, according to The British Sun website.
Information about the precious asteroid
The asteroid under study by NASA is called 16-Psyche and was discovered in 1852, and was previously known as the “golden asteroid”, as scientists believed that it consisted mostly of the precious metal, however subsequent observations indicate that it is most likely made of a mixture of of rock, iron and nickel.
It is believed that the asteroid is the shattered nucleus of a small planet, that is, a small world the size of a city or a small country, and that masses of materials are the first building blocks for building planets and it is believed that they were abundant in the beginnings of the universe, and if the Psyche asteroid is similar to the planet Earth, it can shed light on the interior of the terrestrial planets such as ground.
What will NASA do?
NASA’s spacecraft will use a range of instruments to examine Psyche’s magnetic field, gravitational pull, and surface composition, explaining: “During 21 months in orbit, the spacecraft will map and study Psyche… The mission’s goal, among other things, is to determine whether the asteroid is an asteroid. Indeed, the core of the planet.”
In total, Psyche’s various metals are estimated to be worth £10,000 quadrillion, meaning that if we put them back on Earth it would destroy commodity prices and cause the global economy to collapse – worth £59.5 trillion.
Psyche was discovered by the Italian astronomer Anibal de Gasparis, on March 17, 1852, and named after him “Syki”, the Greek spirit goddess who married Eros “Roman Cupid”, the god of love.