As Earth continues to descend into absolute chaos and numerous extremely destructive and dangerous wars are currently being fought, NASA and SpaceX are preparing to launch a mission to reach a giant metallic asteroid known as Psyche.
The mission will be carried out by SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket and could begin as early as tomorrow. The final stop of the ship will be in the vast asteroid belt located between Mars and Jupiter.
According to The Byte, SpaceX's rocket (aptly and possibly confusingly named Psyche) will head to the metallic asteroid to learn more about it. Created by Elon Musk's company, the rocket will dive into the mystery surrounding the asteroid, which is believed to be left over from the core of some ancient planetary object.
If the mission reveals everything scientists and explorers hope for, it could mark an important moment and a milestone in the understanding of our own solar system.
In addition to better learning about the Solar System as a whole, SpaceX's rocket can also gather information about Earth because of its similarity to Psyche's metallic core. This, in turn, will give researchers a much clearer picture of how Earth formed into the life-giving planet we now live on.
As Lindy Elkins-Tanton, lead researcher on the mission and a professor at Arizona State University, explains, without a mission like this, there will be no understanding of the Earth's core because it is "too hot" and "too deep."
But don't get too excited about unlocking the secrets of the universe just yet. Even with all the brains of NASA and SpaceX behind the rocket's journey, the craft probably won't even reach the giant asteroid until 2029, meaning it has a whopping six-year journey ahead of it. From then on, the craft's primary method of exploration would be to orbit Psyche for two full years, taking pictures and returning them to researchers on Earth.
From what we understand about Psyche and its composition, researchers estimate that the asteroid is between 30 and 60 percent metal, with the rest made up of silicates. Different from the other space rocks, the others are mostly composed of clay and silicate rocks.
And although this is a science mission between NASA and SpaceX, the metal in the asteroid is already attracting the attention of some of the world's richest people, who are hoping to get a piece of Psyche for their own collection. /BGNES
