NASA to explore asteroid 300 times more valuable than world economy

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) will begin space travel in August to orbit and explore the spacecraft. Psych 16, which is the most valuable of all The economy of the earth. Located between Mars and Jupiter, researchers hope to have large reserves Iron and nickel.

Space mission, Also known as Psych, plans to cross various levels and reach the “unexplored” asteroid belt by 2026. Arizona State University will lead the program. The US company said on its page For the first time a body will be examined, not made of earth or ice, but made of metal.

In August, an article was published in the journal Science The Planetary Science Journal, Confirmed what had already been considered about the asteroid: that Worth more than the overall economy on earth. According to researchers, Just iron Of the sky Would be worth $ 10 trillion. In comparison, a magazine that specializes in the world of finance, Forbes, Respect $ 142 trillion to the world economy in 2019.

“If it becomes part of a metal hub, it will be The first generation of early embryos In our solar system, “said Lindy Elkins-Tandon, a researcher at the University of Arizona and director of the Psych Mission.

In this way, the team of scientists behind the project hopes to answer other questions that could make a contribution to the field of astronomy. How the solar system formed. “We wanted to ask the primary questions about the material that made up the planets. We were full of questions, not many answers. This is a real studySaid Lindy Elkis-Tandon.

After being launched from Kennedy Space Center From NASA, the spacecraft will travel 2.4 billion kilometers. In 2023, it will approach Mars and be launched onto an asteroid using the gravitational pull of that planet. In its final approach to the asteroid in late 2025, scientists are expected to turn on the spacecraft’s cameras and work with high-quality images in the final stages.

“These images will also help engineers deflect themselves as they prepare to enter orbit in January 2026. The spacecraft’s initial orbit is designed to be safe and at an altitude of about 700 kilometers above the asteroid’s surface.” , NASA said in its report. Report.

Psychology comes around Soul In the asteroid belt, a disk The Solar System It is located between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, and contains more than a million rock bodies ranging in diameter from 10 meters to nearly 1000 kilometers.

The soul was discovered on March 17, 1852 Hannibal of Casparis From the observatory Capodimonte in Naples, Italy. Its name comes from a deity in Greco-Roman mythology who manifests the soul. With a diameter of more than 200 km, it is the largest of the M-type asteroids, believed to be rich in metals, and may have been fragments of the nuclei of protoplanets that decayed when the solar system formed.

The authors of the study, published in August, said The thermal stability of the soul is high Compared to a typical asteroid, this fact indicates that the celestial body has an unusually dense or conductive surface because the amount of heat it emits is only 60% of the amount of heat expected from a typical surface with that heat emission.

This means that the situation At least 30% of the surface of the psyche is made of metal. Furthermore, the researchers found scattering of asteroid emitting light, claiming that the rocks on the surface were dotted with metal grains.