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This asteroid, worth an estimated $15,600 quadrillion, is the target of a new NASA mission (www.abc.net.au)

submitted 1 year ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago (1 children)

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/16_Psyche is a large M-type asteroid (...) named after the Greek goddess Psyche. The prefix "16" signifies that it was the sixteenth minor planet in order of discovery. It is the largest and most massive of the M-type asteroids, and one of the dozen most massive asteroids. It has a mean diameter of approximately 220 kilometres (...) ...Historically, it was hypothesized to be the exposed core of a protoplanet, but numerous recent studies have all but ruled that out. Psyche will be explored by a spacecraft of the same name, marking the first time a manmade object will journey to a metallic asteroid. Launch is planned for no earlier than 12 October 2023, with an expected arrival in 2029.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago

Psyche will be explored by a spacecraft of the same name, marking the first time a manmade object will journey to a metallic asteroid. Launch is planned for no earlier than 12 October 2023,

This alone is so much more exciting than that dumb headline.