Probe to asteroid 16 Psyche launches

[John]

Nasa probe launches to metal asteroid Psyche - BBC News

I'll be interested in the results from this mission. I have a small slice of the Vaca Muerta meteorite in my collection and 16 Psyche is currently thought to be the most likely parent body for of this meteorite type - mesosiderite.

 

 

Edited October 13, 2023 by John

[Space Hopper]

It looks really interesting John.

Fair old trek to get there though. They say its 60% metal mainly iron and nickel. 

But i wonder if there may be other metals present as well ? Precious metals perhaps....? (My imagination running wild again - a gold asteroid in my head ! 😄)

[maw lod qan]

I really want to see a Falcon Heavy launch up close.

Not meant to be with this one. 

This will be another interesting mission. 

[Zermelo]

2 hours ago, Space Hopper said:

a gold asteroid

It's already been done...

https://tardis.fandom.com/wiki/Voga

[Gfamily]

On 13/10/2023 at 17:45, Space Hopper said:

But i wonder if there may be other metals present as well ? Precious metals perhaps....? (My imagination running wild again - a gold asteroid in my head ! 😄)

Unless there has been a process to differentiate and concentrate the gold from the mix, having to extract the gold is where the problem would lie.

On Earth, economic extraction depends on finding veins created where subterranean hydrothermal flows have different metallic elements dropping out of the superheated water at specific pressure and temperature ranges. 

We know that there's billions of tonnes of gold in the oceans, but it's having a cost effective means of extraction (i.e. differentiation) that determines whether it's a valuable ore or not.