NASA’s Psyche spacecraft in December 2022. NASA’s upcoming mission should settle the debate about Pysche’s composition for once and all.
If true, this would devalue the asteroid. Psyche could actually be closer to a rubble pile, rather than an exposed planetary core, the research claims. However, more recent research out of the University of Arizona suggests that the asteroid might not be as metallic or dense as once thought. For context, the entire global economy is worth roughly $110 trillion as of writing. That would not only represent a momentous discovery, it’s key to Psyche’s potential astronomical value: NASA scientist Lindy Elkins-Tanton calculated that the iron in the asteroid alone could be worth as much as $10 quadrillion, which is $10,000,000,000,000,000,000 (yes, a 20-figure sum). This metallic composition sets it apart from other asteroids that are usually comprised of rock or ice, and could suggest it was originally part of a planetary core. (You can get a real-time simulated view of Psyche here.)Ī study published by The Planetary Science Journal in 2020 suggests that Psyche is made almost entirely of iron and nickel. The asteroid orbits between Mars and Jupiter at a distance ranging from 235 million to 309 million miles from the Sun. Its average diameter is about 140 miles-or roughly the distance between Los Angeles and San Diego. The metal-rich asteroid is about the size of Massachusetts and shaped somewhat like a potato, according to astronomers. The giant M-Type asteroid is thought to be the partial core of a small planet that failed to fully form during the earliest days of our solar system.
Named after the Greek goddess of the soul, Psyche was discovered by Italian astronomer Annibale de Gasparis on March 17, 1852. Artist’s concept of the asteroid 16 Psyche.
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