700 quintillion dollars asteroid
16
Psyche is a large M-type asteroid discovered by the Italian
astronomer Annibale De Gasparis on 17 March 1852 and named after the Greek goddess Psyche.16 stand for
sixteenth minor planet in order of discovery.
Psyche is an m-type asteroid “M” stands for metallic the minerals contained in asteroid.
Psyche are said to be worth 700 quintillion dollars asteroid. 16 psyche orbits
the sun and the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. It's about 140 miles in
diameter. It's certainly not the most beautiful one and is one out of millions of
asteroids in the belt.
So what's so special about this rock
well? It contains a mother loaded of
metals such as gold, iron, nickel etc. 16 psyche is said to be enough to give everyone
on earth nearly a hundred billion dollars. NASA has already planned a mission
to this asteroid called the psyche mission. Mission includes an Orbiter that's
intended to study the origin of planetary cores. Psyche asteroid appears to be
the exposed nickel iron core of an early planet terrestrial planets such as
earth have metallic cores but since we can't see or measure earth's core
directly psyche will help us understand the violent history of collisions and accretion
that created terrestrial planets. It was planned for a launch in 2022 but after
software delays NASA postponed its launch to July 2023. The launch
opportunities in 2023 and 2024 would allow the spacecraft to reach psyche
sometime in 2029 or 2030. The mission is estimated to cost 985 million dollars.
This includes expenses for the launch on a Space-x falcon heavy rocket and
operating costs for the cruise to psyche. According to NASA, gold is a vital
strategic resource in space many satellites carry gold-coated MYLAR sheets to
protect them from solar heat. Gold is also included in an astronaut's helmet
visor which helps deflect solar radiation and then satellite microelectronics
that send data around the world. Rely on
gold components to ensure reliable corrosion resistant and static free
performance