2023-12-20 02:48:00
In August 2022, NASA will send a spacecraft to an asteroid called 16 Psyche, located in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. The metal inside this asteroid is said to be worth 1,000 quintillion dollars (approximately 14.5 yen).
*Category:Science Science *Source:SmithsonianMAGAZINE ,NASA ,Space.com
Asteroid worth more than the world economy
When observing Psyche from Earth, this celestial body appears only vaguely. But by observing the light reflected from the object, scientists hypothesized that the asteroid might contain unusually rich metals. The core is believed to be made of exposed metallic iron, nickel, and gold from casual observations on Earth. This object, first discovered in 1852 by Italian astronomer Anibale de Gasparis, is thought to be the core of a shattered planetesimal, a building block of planet formation.
According to measurements of visible and infrared wavelengths on Earth, this metal-rich asteroid is shaped like a potato. Psyche, known as an M-type asteroid because of its potential metal-rich content, has a diameter of 140 miles (about 225 km), which is the distance from Los Angeles, California, to San Diego. This asteroid has an orbital period of five years, but since it rotates every four hours, Psyche’s “day” is actually quite short.
If Psyche is indeed made of metal and confirmed to be an asteroid, it would reveal how Earth-like planets are formed beneath the layers of mantle and crust, and could potentially explain how the solar system formed. It may help you understand what happened. Experts estimate that the value of these metals inside the asteroid could reach 1,000 quintillion dollars, more than the world economy.
However, the purpose of NASA’s investigation is not to obtain this metal. “We’re excited to be able to explore this new planet,” said Lindy Elkins-Tanton, a planetary scientist at Arizona State University who is leading the Psyche mission.
If it turns out to be part of a metal core, it would be part of the very first generation of early cores in our solar system.But we don’t really know, and we won’t know anything for sure until we get there. We wanted to ask primary questions about the material that built planets. We’re filled with questions and not a lot of answers. This is real exploration.
— Quote:NASA
Translation: If it turns out to be part of a metallic core, it would be part of the first generation of cores in the early solar system. We wanted to ask fundamental questions about the materials that make up planets. We are full of questions and very few answers. This is real exploration.
The Saiki spacecraft, launched from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in October 2023, will pass Mars and use Mars’ gravity to head toward the asteroid. Scheduled to arrive in 2029, the spacecraft will spend 21 months mapping and studying the asteroid 435 miles above the surface. The spacecraft includes a magnetometer to determine whether the asteroid has a magnetic field, and various imagers to photograph and map the asteroid’s surface. This space trip is expected to cover a whopping 1.5 billion miles (approximately 2.41 billion km).
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