(ORDO NEWS) — The US Space Agency has announced that it is resuming the Psyche expedition. NASA plans to send a probe to the asteroid on October 10, 2023.
Asteroid (16) Psyche, which NASA is interested in, is believed to be the core of an ancient planet.
But it’s not Psyche’s size that intrigues scientists, but its metal-rich composition, which is thought to contain large amounts of iron, nickel and gold, worth around US$10 quintillion, easily more than the cost of the entire economy of the Earth.
True, scientists are not interested in the monetary value of metals, but rather in their possible planetary origin.
The Psyche spacecraft was supposed to launch in August 2022 and arrive at the asteroid in 2026. However, there were problems with the probe’s software, so the favorable shipping window was missed.
The new flight will include a gravity assist near Mars in 2026. The spacecraft will arrive at the asteroid in August 2029.
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