Home World NASA plans asteroid mission more valuable than the entire world economy

NASA plans asteroid mission more valuable than the entire world economy

Augusto Correia

It is a pot of immeasurable wealth, orbiting the asteroid belt, about 370 million kilometers from Earth. The asteroid Psyche, discovered in 1852, has a value dozens of times higher than the entire world economy.

A recent study carried out under the lens of the Hubble space telescope found that this asteroid, 226 square kilometers in diameter, is loaded with metals like iron and nickel.

For scientists, Psyche is one of the most intriguing celestial objects to orbit between Mars and Jupiter, in the so-called asteroid belt. Composed solely of metal, it takes five years to orbit around the sun and four hours to rotate on its own axis.

“We have seen meteorites that are mostly metal, but Psyche looks unique because it could be an asteroid made entirely of iron and nickel,” said Tracy Becker, planetary scientist at the Southwest Research Institute in the United States.

“The Earth has a metal core, a mantle and a crust. It is possible that Psyche was a planet in formation hit by gold that is the object of the Solar System, having lost its mantle and crust there ”, said Tracy Becker.

Read more in Jornal de Notícias

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