Floating in space right now is an asteroid
worth 10,000 QUADRILLION DOLLARS!
Wait, how many zeros is that exactly?
This asteroid, called 16-Psyche, contains
so much precious minerals that if we mine
the nickel-iron metals on it, the economy
of the entire world would immediately collapse.
Recently, NASA released news that they would
soon begin their exploration of 16-Psyche.
Named after the Greek goddess of the soul,
Psyche, the asteroid is extremely unique in
that, unlike its rocky and ice covered cousins
floating around in space, it is made almost
completely of rare metals – iron being the
most prevalent.
Why is so rich is it so rich in precious minerals?
Well, according to scientific research, 16-Psyche
reached its current state after multiple asteroid
collisions.
Overtime, impact with other bodies have stripped
away all the rock and glaciers from the asteroid
to reveal its metal-rich core.
Not only does 16-Psyche have an abundance
of iron – which, in estimates, would amount
to at least $10 000 quadrillion – several
other precious metals have also been observed
on its surface such as nickel, gold, copper,
and iridium.
According to Dr. Lindy Elkins-Tanton, the
lead scientist on the 16 Psyche Mission, the
asteroid is a very strange object.
She also estimates that if the 200-kilometre
wide space rock were to be transported back
to earth, it would drastically dwarf our international
economy of a mere $73.7 Trillion and – as
mentioned earlier – would collapse the world
economy with its calculated value of 10, 000
quadrillion dollars.
However, NASA and Dr. Elkins-Tanton have made
it clear that the Psyche mission is purely
for study and exploration and not extraction.
To add to that, even if NASA were planning
to bring Psyche to earth, no such technology
currently exists that would allow us to pull
an asteroid in, kind of like towing a vehicle,
and bring it into our atmosphere.
If the Psyche mission becomes successful,
this will improve our understanding of planetary
cores by providing a chance of exploring a
world made out of metal, instead of rock or
ice.
Speaking of the mission, originally, NASA
had set the exploration of Psyche to 2023
but due to recent developments, the launch
has been pushed earlier to the summer of 2022.
Because of this, NASA’s Psyche probe is
expected to arrive at the famed asteroid four
years earlier than originally planned.
With the discovery of more efficient paths
and trajectories where the probe will travel,
it will be able to reach its target in the
year 2026.
According to Jim Green, NASA’s director
of Planetary Science Division at the Washington
Headquarters, “We challenged the mission
design team to explore if an earlier launch
date could provide a more efficient trajectory
to the asteroid Psyche, and they came through
in a big way.
This will enable us to fulfil our science
objectives sooner and at a reduced cost.”
Once the Psyche Mission is completed, scientists
and researchers will be able to discover if
the asteroid is indeed the remains of a core
of an earlier planet that was bombarded by
asteroids and other planetary objects.
They would also be able to determine the asteroid’s
age and – if it is indeed a planetary core
– how it compares to the Earth’s core.
If, however, the missions results show that
Psyche is not the remains of a planet, there
are still plenty of questions that they will
be able to answer and explanations to puzzles
that have risen since the discovery of this
metal-rich asteroid.
In an interview, Dr. Elkins-Tanton shares:
“Short of it [16 Psyche] being the Death
Star… one other possibility is that it’s
material that formed very near the sun early
in the Solar System.”
This theory may actually hold up, as 16 Psyche
was discovered along the asteroid belt between
Mars and Jupiter.
On a final note, the exploration of asteroid
16 Psyche will open up new avenues of study
in the field of astronomy especially regarding
heavenly bodies and asteroids.
Dr. Elkins-Tanton says, “we’re either
going to see something that’s really improbable
and unique, or something that is completely
astonishing.”
