Elon Musk has been asked by NASA to help explore a nearby asteroid. This asteroid contains so much gold that anyone can become a billionaire on earth. SpaceX, owned by Elon Musk, will join NASA to launch an uncrewed spacecraft to the solid metal blob called 16 Psyche. This could happen as early as 2022. The asteroid is very unique because it appears to be mostly made of exposed nickel-iron, which is from an early planet.
Pysche contains a lot of platinum, iron and nickel. It is also 193 km wide. The estimated value of all these metals are worth $15.8 quadrillion. If all these metals were brought back to earth, the world's economy would collapse as there would be an oversupply of metals. The value on earth would decrease significantly. The SpaceX Falcon rocket has been sent to the International Space Station (ISS) with a load of supplies.
This trip is to examine what the asteroid is made of and there is no intention of any mining. NASA scientists are confident to suggest that 16 Psyche is a survivor of planetary collisions. When the solar system was forming, collisions occurred regularly. Through this information, it could tell us how the earth's core and other planets were formed. The probe will hopefully reach the chunk of metal in 2026. Jupiter Trojan asteroids are considered to be relics of the solar system's earlier era. There is a possibility that Psyche is one of these relics. Every year four to five million ounces of gold is brought to the market which is not much compared to the amount in space. Asteroid ownership was made legal in 2015. Two space mining companies, Deep Space Industries and Planetary Resources are planning to get in on the action.
