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NASA is planning a mission to a huge metallic asteroid valued at 7,700 quadrillion pounds (10,000 quadrillion dollars).
The asteroid, called 16 Psyche, is about 140 miles in diameter and is one of the most massive objects in the main asteroid belt orbiting Mars and Jupiter.
Dr Tracy Becker, a planetary scientist at the Southwest Research Institute, said, “We have seen meteorites that are mostly metallic, but Psyche may be unique in that it could be an asteroid made entirely of iron and nickel.
“The Earth has a metallic core, a mantle and a crust. It is possible that while a Psyche protoplanet was forming, it was hit by another object in our solar system and lost its mantle and crust. “
Experts predict that the iron alone in 16 Psyche could be worth a staggering $ 10,000 quadrillion, that is, if it could somehow be dragged to Earth.
For comparison, the global economy was worth around $ 80,934,771,028,340 (£ 62,388,972,921,051.02) in 2017.
This means that the asteroid could be worth 123,556.29 times the economy!
(Image: Maxar / ASU / P. Rubin / NASA / JPL-Caltech)
Speaking to Global News in 2017, Lindy Elkins-Tanton, NASA’s chief mission scientist and director of Arizona State University’s School of Earth and Space Exploration, said, “Even if we could take a large piece of metal and drag it here. … What would you do?
“Could you sit on it and hide it and control the global asset – kind of like diamonds are controlled by the body – and protect your market?
“What if you decide to bring it back and solve humanity’s metal resource problems forever? This is obviously wild speculation. “
NASA plans to visit the asteroid in 2022 in hopes of understanding how terrestrial planets such as Earth formed.
(Image: NASA / JPL-Caltech / Arizona State Univ./Space Systems Loral / Peter Rubin)
NASA explained: “Deep in the rocky and terrestrial planets – including the Earth – scientists deduce the presence of metal cores, but these lie unreachable far below the rocky mantles and crusts of the planets. Since we cannot see or measure the core of the Earth directly, Psyche offers a unique window into the violent history of collisions and accretion that created the terrestrial planets. “
The launch of the Psyche probe is expected in 2022, before reaching Psyche’s orbit in 2026.
It will then orbit the asteroid for 21 months, mapping and studying the properties of Psyche, before sending its findings to Earth.
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