Psyche is the very first space mission to study an M-type (metallic) asteroid.<\/p> And while studies of the asteroid – known as asteroid 16 Psyche<\/a> – from Earth have given scientists an idea of what to expect, no-one really knows what the spacecraft will find.<\/p> The Psyche mission is expected to reveal clues about our Solar System, including how it formed, what it was like in its infancy, and how it evolved.<\/p> But beyond their scientific value, some argue that asteroids<\/a> like 16 Psyche could be mined for their valuable metals.<\/p> Future missions may seek not to explore and examine these space rocks, but instead to carry out asteroid mining.<\/p> Metal-rich asteroids are scientifically interesting, but they may also have large economic value.<\/p> With an diameter of about 220 kilometres, asteroid 16 Psyche contains roughly 1% the total mass of the entire\u00a0asteroid belt<\/a>.<\/p> According to some estimates, Psyche could contain a staggering 10 quintillion dollars\u2019 worth of iron, nickel and other precious metals.<\/p> But even if this were true, would humans actually be able to extract such metals and return them to Earth?<\/p> Could asteroid mining be a physical possibility, even if we wanted to do it?<\/p> Launching rovers and space probes across the Solar System is well within humanity’s capabilities.<\/p> But returning those missions back to Earth is another question.<\/p> The Hayabusa2<\/a> and OSIRIS-REx<\/a> missions, for example, returned samples of asteroids to laboratories on Earth, but these were relatively small samples.<\/p> Extracting huge amounts of material from an asteroid and returning it to Earth is another question entirely.<\/p> “The potential of asteroid mining has made entrepreneurs excited around the world,” says Psyche mission co-investigator Bill Bottke of the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado.<\/p> But, he adds, “asteroid mining is hard and Psyche is far away. It may be a long time before the world suggested by The<\/em> Expanse<\/em><\/a> TV show becomes a reality.<\/p> “When that day arrives, though, Psyche would make an excellent target, depending on what we want to do with its metals.\u201d\u00a0<\/p> Other M-type asteroids, like the near-Earth objects 1986 DA and 2016 ED85, are much smaller but also much easier (and less costly) to exploit.<\/p> Small-scale asteroid mining may well become a reality before the end of this century.<\/p>How valuable could asteroid mining be?<\/strong><\/h2>
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Returning asteroid mining samples to Earth<\/strong><\/h2>
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