NASA is eyeing gold in space 

| Read time: 3 minute(s)

Space if full of wonders, but did you know that it can also make Earthlings rich. Yes, NASA is eyeing a nearby asteroid that contains enough gold to make everyone on Earth a billionaire! The space agency has asked billionaire Elon Musk to help it explore a nearby asteroid. Psyche 16 is nestled between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter and is made of solid metal. Musk’s rocket-building company SpaceX will join forces with NASA to fire an uncrewed spacecraft to the asteroid as early as 2022. As well as gold, the mysterious object is loaded with heaps of platinum, iron and nickel. Nasa is launching a mission to probe the asteroid in summer 2022. Dubbed the Discovery Mission, it will arrive at Psyche 16 around 2026. But bringing back an asteroid of this value could completely wipe out our global economy. Fortunately, the space agency is taking the trip for scientific purposes and isn't planning on conducting any mining. “The Psyche mission will journey to a unique metal-rich asteroid, also named Psyche, which orbits the Sun between Mars and Jupiter,” NASA said in a statement. “The asteroid is considered unique, as it appears to largely be made of the exposed nickel-iron core of an early planet – one of the building blocks of our solar system.” Fun fact Psyche 16 is a survivor of violent hit-and-run collisions between planets which were common when the solar system was forming.

Space if full of wonders, but did you know that it can also make Earthlings rich. Yes, NASA is eyeing a nearby asteroid that contains enough gold to make everyone on Earth a billionaire!

The space agency has asked billionaire Elon Musk to help it explore a nearby asteroid. Psyche 16 is nestled between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter and is made of solid metal.

Musk’s rocket-building company SpaceX will join forces with NASA to fire an uncrewed spacecraft to the asteroid as early as 2022.

As well as gold, the mysterious object is loaded with heaps of platinum, iron and nickel.

Nasa is launching a mission to probe the asteroid in summer 2022. Dubbed the Discovery Mission, it will arrive at Psyche 16 around 2026.

But bringing back an asteroid of this value could completely wipe out our global economy.

Fortunately, the space agency is taking the trip for scientific purposes and isn’t planning on conducting any mining.

“The Psyche mission will journey to a unique metal-rich asteroid, also named Psyche, which orbits the Sun between Mars and Jupiter,” NASA said in a statement. “The asteroid is considered unique, as it appears to largely be made of the exposed nickel-iron core of an early planet – one of the building blocks of our solar system.”


Fun Fact

Psyche 16 is a survivor of violent hit-and-run collisions between planets which were common when the solar system was forming. 


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