• News
  • Film and TV
  • Music
  • Tech
  • Features
  • Celebrity
  • Politics
  • Weird
  • Community
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • LADbible
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
TikTok
YouTube
Submit Your Content
NASA give new update on asteroid that was discovered 172 years ago and is worth $10,000,000,000,000,000,000

Home> News> US News

Published 11:56 20 Jul 2024 GMT+1

NASA give new update on asteroid that was discovered 172 years ago and is worth $10,000,000,000,000,000,000

Psyche could provide some incredible insight into the history of the solar system

Kit Roberts

Kit Roberts

NASA has issued an update on the enormous asteroid which has been estimated to be worth one hundred quintillion dollars.

If you were wondering how many zeros that is, it's 19 zeros, or $10,000,000,000,000,000,000.

This estimate of monetary value is due to the high quantities of precious metals contained within the asteroid.

Psyche is named after the Greek goddess of the soul, and was discovered in 1852 by Italian astronomer Annibale de Gasparis.

In 2023, NASA launched a probe to investigate Psyche from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida in order to study the asteroid and try to gain some insight into its history and where it may have originated in the solar system.

Advert

It was the 16th asteroid to be discovered, and is thought to be composed of between 30 percent and 60 percent metals.

These percentages include gold, iron, platinum, palladium, and nickel - all of which are used in a number of industries.

A NASA model of the Psyche asteroid. (CHANDAN KHANNA / AFP) (Photo by CHANDAN KHANNA/AFP via Getty Images)
A NASA model of the Psyche asteroid. (CHANDAN KHANNA / AFP) (Photo by CHANDAN KHANNA/AFP via Getty Images)

Of course, flooding the market with vast quantities of minerals would have an impact on their price, but you get the idea of just how much the asteroid contains.

Advert

There's also the slight issue that the asteroid is located some 235 million to 309 million miles away from the Sun, depending on where it is in its orbital path.

That could make actually accessing the asteroid slightly challenging - especially to retrieve any of the resources within.

In fact, it would take around six years to reach the asteroid in the belt between Mars and Jupiter, as per The Daily Express US.

As part of the journey to Psyche, NASA plans a manoeuvre in 2026 using Mars' gravitational field to 'slingshot' the probe towards the asteroid.

Advert

If all goes to plan with the journey then NASA's probe should be arriving at Psyche in 2029.

NASA has launched a mission to the asteroid. (CHANDAN KHANNA / AFP) (Photo by CHANDAN KHANNA/AFP via Getty Images)
NASA has launched a mission to the asteroid. (CHANDAN KHANNA / AFP) (Photo by CHANDAN KHANNA/AFP via Getty Images)

Scientists currently think that Psyche was formed as a result of violent collisions during the infancy of the Solar System.

This means that studying the asteroid itself could offer valuable insight into the formation of the Earth's core.

Advert

NASA has invested approximately $1.2 billion to develop, launch, and operate the Psyche mission.

Prior to the launch in a statement released in July 2023, NASA said: "Teams of engineers and technicians are working almost around the clock to ensure the orbiter is ready to journey 2.5 billion miles to a metal-rich asteroid that may tell us more about planetary cores and how planets form."

The vessel might be travelling at 84,000 miles per hour, but given that it has to travel over 164 million miles from Earth - or around 264 million kilometres - it's still got a long way to go.

Featured Image Credit: Jet Propulsion Laboratory California Institute of Technology/Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Topics: News, US News, NASA, Science, Technology

Kit Roberts
Kit Roberts

Kit joined UNILAD in 2023 as a community journalist. They have previously worked for StokeonTrentLive, the Daily Mirror, and the Daily Star.

Advert

Advert

Advert

  • Asteroid worth $10,000,000,000,000,000,000 that NASA is capturing was discovered nearly 200 years ago
  • NASA issues historic update on journey to $10,000,000,000,000,000,000 asteroid
  • Asteroid worth $10,000,000,000,000,000,000 NASA is capturing would give everyone on Earth $1,246,105,919 each
  • Experts reveal biggest hurdle in capturing asteroid worth $10,000,000,000,000,000,000 that would 'give everyone on Earth $1,246,105,919 each'

Choose your content:

5 hours ago
6 hours ago
  • 5 hours ago

    America’s ‘harshest’ death row prison gives shocking new privileges to killer inmates

    One death row inmate has said the new scheme has given him hope

    News
  • 5 hours ago

    Andy Byron's company speaks out after married CEO was caught with employee on Coldplay kiss cam

    The viral video has got people all over the internet talking

    News
  • 6 hours ago

    Woman diagnosed with brain tumor after dismissing symptoms as a cold that wouldn’t go away

    Amanda Hyne, from Connecticut, initially thought her symptoms were down to 'mom stress'

    News
  • 6 hours ago

    Harvard professor reveals the most important thing marriages need to survive

    Arthur Brooks, American academic and author, made his opinion known on a podcast last year

    News