NASA scientists are nearing the final stages of preparation to launch towards a $10,000 quadrillion asteroid, scheduled for liftoff on October 12. Engineers and technicians are getting the Psyche spacecraft ready. This mission's goal is to explore a celestial body that holds a value potentially surpassing that of the entire global economy.
The asteroid lies in the outer portion of the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. Psyche is targeting liftoff at 10:16 a.m. EDT on Thursday, October 12, on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from Launch Complex 39A at the agency's Kennedy Space Centre in Florida, NASA said in a release.
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The goal of the mission is to study this space rock in great detail, as it can tell us more about planetary cores and Earth's own formation.
According to NASA, the asteroid Psyche offers a unique window into these building blocks of planet formation and the opportunity to investigate a previously unexplored type of world.
According to Metro News, the combined GDP of the world is currently a comparatively meagre $105 trillion, and this asteroid is worth $10,000 quadrillion.
About the mission:
The space agency mentioned on its website that Psyche is both the name of an asteroid orbiting the Sun between Mars and Jupiter and the name of a NASA space mission to visit that asteroid, led by Arizona State University. The mission was chosen by NASA on January 4, 2017 as one of two missions for the agency's Discovery Programme, a series of relatively low-cost missions to solar system targets.
The Psyche spacecraft is targeted to travel to the asteroid using solar-electric (low-thrust) propulsion, following a Mars flyby and gravity assist. After arrival, the mission plan calls for mapping the asteroid and studying its properties.
