NASA mission: more expensive than the global economy – asteroid “Psyke”

Status: 07:52 AM| Reading time: 3 minutes

96.1 trillion US dollars: This is her estimate world bank Global GDP in 2021. An almost unimaginable number consists of the total value of all goods and services generated in each country. About 370 kilometers from our Earth, there is something floating in space that could be more valuable: the asteroid “16 Psyche”.

The celestial body is said to be made up of important metals such as iron and nickel, and possibly gold, copper, platinum or cobalt. Lindy Elkins Tanton, an astronomer at Arizona State University in the US, told a Canadian news channel that the amount of iron believed to be in Psyche alone could be worth up to $10 trillion.world news“.

To put that into perspective, $96.1 trillion is the number 961 followed by 11 zeros. 10 trillion is one number – with 20 zeros. So it’s no wonder that NASA wants to examine the asteroid more closely. A psychic probe will be launched under the direction of Elkins Tanton. But before we tell you more, we want to ask you something:

Asteroid or former planet? ‘It’s a strange thing’

The celestial body with a width of about 220 km is located in the large asteroid belt between the planets Mars and Jupiter – it was probably originally a planet. Elkins Tanton and colleagues suspect that Psyche, named after the Greek goddess of the spirit, rocked back and forth during the formation of the solar system, causing the outer layers of rock to be thrown off. It is said that a core similar to the core of the Earth has appeared.

It’s a strange thing,” Elkins Tanton told Global News. “If it turns out to be a metallic core, it will belong to the first generation of early cores in our solar system,” the American newspaper quoted the newspaper as saying.ForbesPsyche mission leader.

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Such an asteroid has not been explored in detail before – and from afar it is difficult to say anything specific about Psyche. But what researchers can tell about the celestial body using radiometric instruments: It has the shape of a large space potato.

NASA: Postponing the mission of the soul

The Psyche mission was already scheduled to begin between August and October 2022. However, due to delays in the delivery of flight software and test supplies, the launch had to be postponed to a later launch window, such as space agency communication. Scientists use the term to describe the amount of time a missile can fly to reach its target. This depends on the capabilities and energy reserves of the missile as well as the orbit in which the missile will go.

If the probe had been launched this year, it would have reached the asteroid in 2026. Due to the changing constellation of the sky, the probe will need about six years to reach Psyche if it was launched in 2023 or 2024.

Elkins Tanton can only guess what the space researchers will face next. “We don’t know what we will find out. I expect we will be completely surprised.”

By the way, this celestial body is also covered in abundance:

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