Readers interested in space will have already heard of the $10,000,000,000,000,000 asteroid. The asteroid is wrapped in precious metals. It is believed to be worth 10 quintillion dollars (the big number you see above). It can be thought! If such an asteroid can be brought to earth, the economic situation of the whole world will change. If this wealth is shared among everyone in the world, almost everyone will become a millionaire. The US space agency NASA has already sent a spacecraft to the asteroid. So NASA and the United States want to be the owner of that resource?
The idea of bringing such an asteroid to Earth is a fantasy. It is not yet time to say whether an asteroid will ever be brought to Earth. NASA instead sent a spacecraft to study the asteroid. The spacecraft named 'Psyche' will reach the asteroid in 2029.
The asteroid is now somewhere between Jupiter and Mars. With this mission, NASA will examine the surface and structure of the asteroid. And if there really is a precious resource there, NASA scientists are even thinking of bringing the asteroid to the moon if the technology improves in the future.
The asteroid is initially thought to be composed of iron and nickel. The same element is at the core or center of the earth. As a result, scientists think that by researching that asteroid, we will get a more detailed understanding of the core of other rocky planets including Earth. According to them, this will help to understand how the world was formed about 4.5 billion years ago.
Oh, this precious asteroid is not named in words. But you may have understood the name of the asteroid from the name of the spacecraft. 16 Psyche. Yes, this asteroid has precious resources like gold.
NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) recently photographed this asteroid. And by analyzing that picture, scientists got some new information. Until now, it was thought that only metallic elements are present in the abalone. But now, seeing James Webb's pictures, scientists believe that the surface of the asteroid contains hydroxyl (OH) and water (H2O). These molecules can interact with the asteroid's metal to form rust.
Apart from that, the density of the asteroid that the scientists had expected so far is also not matching. Its density is relatively low. Also, the amount of metallic elements that should be present may not be present. Because the water that can be in 16 Psyche, scientists did not think before. Even the idea that the asteroid is rich in silicates cannot be ruled out.
Scientists believe that studying asteroids will provide more detailed information about the cores of other rocky planets in the solar system, including Earth. According to them, this will help to understand how the world was formed about 4.5 billion years ago.
16 Analyzing the images of Psyche, scientists have put forward another new hypothesis. Perhaps, the asteroid formed in an area of the solar system where it was cold enough for water to condense into solid ice. If this hypothesis is true, the asteroid could give us only water instead of trillions of dollars worth of resources, which Earth has plenty of.
But now is not the time to comment in detail about the asteroid. Because everything is still uncertain. Maybe something completely new can be discovered instead of what scientists have thought so far. In fact, we have to wait another 5 years to know clearly what is in that asteroid. As mentioned earlier, NASA is already conducting a mission called Psyche. In October 2023, as part of this mission, a spacecraft of the same name 16 headed for Psyche. If all goes well, the spacecraft will reach the asteroid in 2029. Then everything will be known in detail.
The asteroid is now somewhere between Jupiter and Mars. With this mission, NASA will examine the surface and structure of the asteroid. And if there really is a precious resource there, NASA scientists are even thinking of bringing the asteroid to the moon if the technology improves in the future. Although it is difficult to imagine, scientists have really thought about this. In that case, those resources will be slowly brought to earth from the moon. But whether or not the asteroid will actually be dragged to the moon depends on the Psyche mission.