This asteroid’s price will blow your mind!2 min read

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All Things Science

Do you know how many zeros 10,000 quadrillion US dollars has? That’s what NASA’s new discovery, Astroid Psyche, is worth. That’s 10,000 times more than what the world was worth (global economy) in 2019!

Asteroid 16 Psyche is purely made of iron and nickel. These are two elements very commonly used in our world today. It is believed that the asteroid is the core of a planet that failed to form when its solar system was created!

Located between Mars and Jupiter, 16 Psyche is located in the asteroid belt. It also revolves around the sun, but instead of completing one revolution in a year, like the earth, it takes five years. This is also because 16 Psyche is over 160 million miles(260 million km) away! 

Mission Psyche

NASA, after being deeply interested in this asteroid, is planning to launch a mission to 16 Psyche in August 2022. The spacecraft will use Mars’ gravity assist to reach the asteroid. This essentially means that the spacecraft will go into Mars’ orbit and use it gain speed without using much fuel.

The spacecraft will reach the asteroid in 2026. It will orbit 16 Psyche for 21 months, using special tools to study it, like a radio instrument and a magnetometer.

Advantages of the mission

There are many advantages to explore asteroids like 16 Psyche, including the possibility that mankind can someday use it for mining.

This mission’s goal is also to see if the asteroid is indeed the core of a planet. Nevertheless, 16 Psyche is a long way away, but we are closer to learning more about it!

Rishi is a 7th grader and basketball fan. He has a sports YouTube channel with 50 subscribers and aspires to make it 1M someday. He likes watching space launches, reading about building rockets.

(All Things Science is weekly column about science, space and other things around it.)