The schedule is set, the launch of the SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket towards the asteroid Psyche, valued at 70,000 times the Earth’s economy, will be on October 1st, 2023. Officially, humanity, or specifically NASA, will approach one of the most valuable asteroids for science, but the mission won’t be as simple as we imagine.
It will take the SpaceX Falcon spacecraft about three and a half years to reach the asteroid known as Psyche. After that, the spacecraft will spend about 21 months simply observing the object to learn more about its structure and behavior.
Nevertheless, this won’t be the first time we know about Psyche, as NASA began studying the asteroid in 2017. They discovered it was a valuable object for the world economy of Earth.
Why Is Asteroid Psyche So Valuable?
The history of the asteroid officially begins in March 1852, when the Italian scientist Annibale de Gasparis discovered it. Named after the Greek goddess Psyche, this is a very special asteroid as it appears to be the exposed core of a primitive planet, a core that is specifically made of nickel and iron.
For now, the massive object is orbiting the Sun between Mars and Jupiter, but its composition is what caught the attention of space agencies. For NASA, the goal of this exploration includes everything from researching a metal core of a new world to determining its age and other factors.
“Because we cannot directly see or measure the Earth’s core, Psyche offers a unique window into the violent history of collisions and accumulation that created the terrestrial planets,” declared NASA.
However, there is also the economic factor. Of all the objects that space agencies could explore in the universe, the asteroid Psyche represents a very valuable one, and this is due to the elements it contains iron and nickel.
These materials present on the asteroid equate to about 70,000 times the global economy of planet Earth, and that is a striking feature for humanity. Undoubtedly, the exploitation of its resources is an idea that surrounds the mission. Of course, exploiting or extracting resources from cosmic objects is not as simple as on Earth, so missions around the exploitation of valuable asteroids in space are still not very clear.
A First Approach to Psyche
For now, NASA is not expected to extract resources from the asteroid. SpaceX Falcon spacecraft will arrive at the asteroid in 2029, and months of space exploration will follow that may result in nothing extraordinary, beyond the approach itself.
Even though new technologies are helping space missions become less distant and impossible, astronomy still faces challenges. If the US space agency succeeds in reaching Psyche, it will be the first achievement in exploring a metal planet, something completely new to humanity and astronomy.
We’ll have to wait a few years to have some answers about this mission, but NASA is definitely excited about exploring an asteroid that represents the origins of many planets in the universe. This might be the window to discover the origins of thousands of cosmic objects around us and even the start of life on planet Earth.
Story originally published in Spanish in Ecoosfera.
