16 Psyche is a unique asteroid because of what it is made out of.
Discovered back in 1852 by Annibale de Gasparis, it didn’t seem especially unusual at the time. But with improvements in technology, researchers realised that it reflected radar signals very strongly. This suggested that it contained high level of metal, which has sparked major scientific interest over the years.
Unlike most rocks floating around in space, Psyche is thought to contain large amounts of metal like iron, nickel and platinum-group metals. Scientists also reckon that it could actually be the exposed core of a planet that never fully formed.
To find out more, NASA's Psyche mission was launched on 13 October 2023 thanks to a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket.
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Although the mission is considered to be purely scientific, if NASA were to mine the asteroid, it could be worth a whopping £8,000,000,000,000,000,000.
Unless you have Rain Man like abilities, that's roughly £8 quintillion.
The spacecraft is likely to reach Psyche by 2029, and will study its surface, composition, gravity and magnetic field. Scientists hope this will help them understand how planetary cores form and what early planets may have looked like.
Why is 16 Psyche worth so much money?
Psyche is often said to be worth around £8,000,000,000,000,000,000 based on estimates of how much metal it may contain. This is based on its calculated size, around 226 kilometres wide, and its density, then applying current Earth prices for metals like iron, nickel and platinum.
Will 16 Psyche make me a billionaire?
Theoretically, yes. Practically, no.
If we say that the human population is around 8.3 billion people, every person could get the equivalent of just under £1 billion each. Obviously, this is not a realistic outcome for a number of reasons.
Mining the asteroid is far beyond today’s technology, and if that much metal ever reached Earth, prices would collapse. Even so, the estimate shows just how unusual and metal-rich Psyche is compared with anything humans have ever come across.
"Scientists think Psyche may consist of significant amounts of metal from the core of a planetesimal, one of the building blocks of our solar system," NASA explained.
"The asteroid is most likely a survivor of multiple violent hit-and-run collisions, common when the solar system was forming.
"Thus, Psyche may be able to tell us how Earth’s core and the cores of the other rocky, or terrestrial, planets came to be."
Topics: NASA, Science, Space, Technology
Anish Vij