NASA plans to launch a probe spacecraft on October 12 to an asteroid about 4 billion kilometers away. The asteroid could be rich in iron, nickel and gold and be worth more than $100 trillion. However, NASA has no plans to mine these precious metals.
Asteroid 16 Psyche is located in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.
The asteroid, named "16 Psyche," is reportedly located in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, with a maximum diameter of about 279 kilometers, a dense metal core in the magma center beneath the rocky planet's surface, and precious metals worth more than $100 trillion.
The spacecraft Psyche will enter space aboard the SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket, which is scheduled to lift off from Pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 10:16 a.m. ET on October 12.
Diagram of the probe task.
The launch was originally scheduled for Oct. 5, but was delayed by a week to allow engineers to update the configuration of the thrusters on board the Psyche spacecraft.
The Psyche spacecraft is 25 meters long and 7 meters wide, and when unfolded its solar panels, it is about the size of a tennis court.
About an hour after liftoff, the final stage of the Falcon Heavy rocket will release the Psyche spacecraft, which will fly to the main asteroid belt.
It was the first mission to explore an asteroid whose surface contains a lot of metal rather than rock or ice.
The spacecraft will fly for six years and travel 3.6 billion kilometers, arriving at its destination in July 2029.
This is the first mission to explore asteroids with large amounts of metal on their surfaces, rather than rocks or ice, and will provide a unique opportunity to study how planets like our own planet formed.
If the mission team encounters any issues that prevent the spacecraft from launching on October 12, they will reschedule the launch before the October 25 launch window closes.
NASA will broadcast the launch live next week.
It is estimated that the Psyche mission will cost NASA about $1.2 billion.
The Psyche spacecraft and its solar panels.
For the first time, the Psyche spacecraft will use a very efficient propulsion system beyond the moon that harnesses the energy of large solar arrays to generate electric and magnetic fields.
NASA says these electric and magnetic fields, which in turn accelerate and expel charged atoms or ions, a propellant called "xenon," which creates thrust at great speed.
The irregular, potato-like asteroid "16 Psyche" is thought to have the bare core of a destroyed protoplanet.
Scientists say the asteroid is likely a survivor of multiple violent collisions that are common in the formation of the solar system.
The spacecraft will orbit the asteroid for 21 months while taking the first images of 16 Psyche.
During the collision and merger of such smaller planets, the resulting larger objects begin to melt completely. Heavy metals sink into the center of the earth, while lighter rocks float to the top.
NASA believes that 16 Psyche was struck by another asteroid at this stage, stripping away its rocky mantle, leaving behind a bare metal core that has been detected today.
Spectroscopic studies and radar observations have shown that its surface contains up to 95% nickel and iron, a composition similar to the Earth's core.
In 1852, Italian astronomer Annibale de Gasparis discovered the asteroid, which is the 16th asteroid ever discovered.
16 Psyche has an average diameter of about 220 kilometers and a mass of about 1% of the total mass of the entire asteroid belt, about 220 billion kilograms.
This makes it one of the 12 largest asteroids orbiting the Sun between Mars and Jupiter.
The Psyche spacecraft will carry several instruments, including two high-resolution cameras and a spectrometer, to determine the composition of the asteroid.
The spacecraft also has a magnetometer to detect whether the space rock has a residual magnetic field, as well as an instrument to measure its gravitational field.
It will orbit the asteroid for 21 months while taking the first images of 16 Psyche.
Dr. Linda Elkins-Tanton, a space scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the lead researcher on the mission, said that if the asteroid's precious metals were brought back to Earth, it could cause the value of the precious metals to plummet, completely devalue all holders, including governments, and all companies involved in mining, distributing and trading such goods, and eventually lead to the collapse of the global economy.
However, this is all speculation and hypothesis, because even if the value of 16 Psyche is expensive, it is unlikely to be easily brought back to Earth, and there are currently no such plans.
Text/Nandu reporter Chen Lin