Asteroid Psyche, the largest metallic asteroid yet discovered, is also one of the strangest. Not only could the 15,000 mile (25,000 km) wide space rock be covered in iron volcanoes, it’s value is said to be worth $10,000 quadrillion. And NASA scientists admit they really have little idea what they will find on the massive asteroid.
Three types of asteroid make up the asteroid belt: ones containing carbon, silicate-rich space rocks and ones made up of metal are by far the rarest.
16 Psyche is an asteroid made of iron-nickel, known as M-type.
What makes it unusual is that it’s believed to be the now-exposed core of a protoplanet.
If Psyche is a core remnant it is possible that others remain as well, but the asteroid isn’t part of any known family.
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One theory for its formation is that it was struck a number of times, but never with enough force to shatter it.
The remaining fragment represents the iron core of a protoplanet, possibly covered by a thin layer of silicates or remnant components of the original mantle.
Psyche’s high iron content means it punches above its weight class as far as mass.
While it is listed as the 11th most-massive asteroid, it has the 35th largest diameter.
Psyche is considered the most massive M-type asteroid, with a mass of 2.23±0.36×1019 kg.
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Psyche represents two fascinating opportunities: it is the only known iron world in the solar system and the asteroid is likely the closest we will ever come to examining the core of an actual planet.
We could theoretically learn a great deal about the earliest protoplanets — ancient objects believed to have formed the inner planets and contributed to the mass of the outer billions of years ago.
NASA’s Psyche spacecraft is currently under preliminary design review and the US space agency is reviewing the plans for the mission ahead of an imminent decision whether to commence construction of the vehicle.
Jim Bell, the deputy principal investigator of the Psyche mission, said: “The state of the art is profound ignorance about what we expect to find.
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“We are trying to prepare for any eventuality, no matter what it’s like.
“Our instruments will make interesting measurements, observations and discoveries that will allow us to put the history of that object back together.”
The Psyche spacecraft is scheduled to be shipped to its launch site at Cape Canaveral Air Force Base in Florida in the first half of 2022. Mission launch is expected to take place in August of 2022.