NASA is working to uncover the mystery behind an asteroid that may contain a priceless treasure trove of minerals.
The space agency is planning to send an unmanned spacecraft to the chunk of metal known as 16 Psyche and which has a mineral value of more than $10,000 quadrillion dollars.
Asteroid 16 Psyche is nestled between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter and is made of solid metal. As well as gold, the mysterious object is loaded with heaps of platinum, iron and nikel.
In total, it’s estimated that 16 Psyche’s various metals are worth a gargantuan $10,000 quadrillion.
That means if we carried it back to Earth, it would destroy commodity prices and cause the world’s economy – worth £59.5trillion – to collapse.
Asteroid Mining
We’ve known about 16 Psyche for a while, but its potential to cause havoc on Earth was recently touched upon by a veteran miner.
Scott Moore, who heads up EuroSun Mining, said the sheer amount of gold in the asteroid threatens to throw the gold industry into chaos.
“The ‘Titans of Gold’ now control hundreds of the best-producing properties around the world,” he said. “But the 4-5 million ounces of gold they bring to the market every year pales in comparison to the conquests available in space.”
NASA, Space Mining and the Economic Collapse
NASA is launching a mission to probe the asteroid in summer 2022. Dubbed the Discovery Mission, it will arrive at 16 Psyche around 2026.
But bringing back an asteroid of this value could completely wipe out our global economy.
Fortunately, the space agency is taking the trip for scientific purposes and isn’t planning on conducting any mining. (LOL!)
Two space mining companies – backed by big name celebs – are gearing up for a gold rush after asteroid ownership was made legal in 2015.
Deep Space Industries and Planetary Resources each have their eyes on the 2011 UW158 asteroid which is twice the size of the Tower of London and worth up to £4.5trillion.
I tell you, space is the future… Meanwhile Earth is heading to a complete and chaotic societal collapse!