NASA plans to send a space probe to the asteroid 16 Psyche, which is located in the Main Asteroid Belt between Mars and Jupiter, in August 2022.
The celestial body looks like a blurry blur when seen from Earth. However, experts believe the asteroid is especially rich in metal-based on light reflected off it.
Forbes said the core is assumed to be made up of exposed metallic iron, nickel, and gold, based on incidental observations made on Earth. The celestial body was first spotted in 1852 by Italian astronomer Annibale de Gasparis and is thought to be the center of a shattered planetesimal, a planet-forming basic piece.
An artist’s concept of asteroid 16 Psyche.
NASA to Check Asteroid 16 Psyche Soon
According to NASA, visible and infrared wavelength assessments on Earth reveal the metal-rich asteroid is shaped like a potato. Psyche, dubbed an M-type asteroid because of its possible high metal content, has a diameter of 140 miles, or about the distance between Los Angeles and San Diego, California. The asteroid's orbital period is five years, yet it rotates every four hours; thus, a Psyche "day" is rather brief.
NASA added that Psyche might show what the innards of planets like Earth look like beneath the layers of mantle and crust if it is discovered to be comprised of metal and proved to be a planetesimal. This would help researchers better understand how the solar system developed.
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The Psyche project, which is scheduled to launch in August 2022 (per Science Times), will orbit a region of space that astronomers can only see from Earth and has never been visited before. According to Forbes, if the asteroid's riches are confirmed, it might be worth more than the world economy, at $10 quintillion. That sum may appear large, but Psyche behind Davida, which is worth an estimated $27 quintillion, according to Business Insider.
In a statement, NASA Psyche mission head Lindy Elkins-Tanton said: "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."
Spacecraft to Sail Through Red Planet
Forbes said the Psyche spacecraft would sail through Mars and use the Red Planet's gravity to catapult itself towards the asteroid nine months after it launched from NASA's Kennedy Space Center this summer. The probe will spend 21 months surveying and investigating the asteroid from 435 miles above its surface after arriving in 2026.
The Psyche orbiter's instruments include a magnetometer to assess whether the asteroid has a magnetic field and multiple imagers to photograph and map the asteroid's surface. The journey will span a total distance of 1.5 billion miles.
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