NASA's Bold Expedition Targets $10 Quintillion Asteroid Payload
Roughly a year ago, NASA launched a mission that sounds like something out of a sci-fi novel, a spacecraft headed toward an asteroid that could, at least in theory, make every person on Earth a billionaire. The asteroid, named Psyche, isn’t just another chunk of space rock drifting in the void.
It’s a metallic giant floating between Mars and Jupiter, packed with rare and valuable elements that are essential to life as we know it on Earth, from smartphones to electric cars. At an estimated worth of $10 quintillion, Psyche isn’t just expensive, it’s mind-bogglingly valuable.
That’s a number with 19 zeroes, far beyond what the entire global economy is currently worth. And yes, if it could somehow be mined and brought back to Earth, that kind of payload would be enough to make every person on the planet very, very rich.
Of course, that’s more fantasy than reality at this point. We’re nowhere near having the technology or the logistics to haul back an asteroid. But that doesn’t make the mission any less fascinating. Psyche was first spotted back in 1852 by Italian astronomer Annibale de Gasparis.
He named it after the Greek goddess Psyche, a mortal woman who married Eros, the god of love. It was the 16th asteroid ever discovered, which is why you’ll sometimes see it referred to as 16 Psyche. But its importance in the scientific community goes far beyond its name or number.
Psyche is a metal-rich asteroid, likely a protoplanet core, and NASA’s 2023 mission to study it is on track for 2029.
What makes Psyche different from most other asteroids is its composition. Instead of being a giant rock, this one is thought to be made up largely of metal, specifically nickel and iron, with a surface that might be up to 60% metal.
That’s not typical. Most asteroids we’ve studied are rocky or icy. This one stands out, and scientists believe it could be the exposed core of an ancient protoplanet.
In simpler terms, it's possibly a leftover chunk of what might have become a planet billions of years ago before it was smashed apart in the early days of our solar system. NASA launched the Psyche mission on October 13, 2023.
The spacecraft won’t reach the asteroid until 2029, but so far, everything is running smoothly. That alone is a big deal; space missions are notoriously complex, and even small problems can cause major delays. A year in, the team is optimistic.
NASA’s Psyche mission could spark curiosity and reveal how planets like Earth began.
Lindy Elkins-Tanton, who’s leading the Psyche mission at NASA, recently shared her excitement.
“In my heart, what I would love for it to be is that ours was a mission that ignited in so many people the thrill of wanting to see the unknown,” she said. “My gosh, wait until we get there.”
And she’s right to be excited. Psyche is unlike anything we’ve explored before. If it is indeed the core of an early planet, studying it up close could give scientists a rare glimpse into how planets form, including Earth. It’s like looking under the hood of the solar system’s engine.
The asteroid itself is massive, about 64,000 square miles in surface area, which makes it slightly bigger than the state of Georgia. It’s shaped more like a misshapen potato than anything round, which is typical for smaller bodies in space.
As for its eye-watering price tag, it's based on the estimated market value of the metals inside. Psyche is believed to be rich in platinum, palladium, and other rare elements that we currently rely on for everything from catalytic converters to electronics.
That said, mining it is a whole other conversation; just getting there is an achievement on its own.
For now, the mission is focused on learning. If all goes according to plan, the spacecraft will orbit the asteroid and send back images and data that could reshape our understanding of the solar system’s early days.
So while the dream of turning everyone into a billionaire is fun to imagine, the real value of Psyche lies in the science. And in a world full of bad news, it’s nice to know there are still missions out there driven purely by curiosity and discovery.
