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posted by martyb on Friday January 20 2017, @02:17AM   Printer-friendly
from the iron-is-a-precious-metal? dept.

NASA wants to uncover the mystery behind the asteroid “16 Psyche.” that may contain a priceless treasure trove of minerals. “We’ve been to all the different planets, we’ve been to other asteroids. But we’ve never visited a body that has been made of entirely metal,” said Carol Polanskey, project scientist for the Psyche mission. Now NASA, led by researchers at Arizona State University, plans to send an unmanned spacecraft to orbit 16 Psyche – an asteroid roughly the size of Massachusetts, made of iron and other precious metals. The mission’s leader estimates that the iron alone on today’s market would be worth $10,000 quadrillion.

Previously: NASA Selects Two Missions to Visit Asteroids


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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 20 2017, @02:28AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 20 2017, @02:28AM (#456339)

    > the iron alone on today’s market would be worth $10,000 quadrillion.

    Come on, the market price would collapse long before that much iron could be sold.

    I think that big number might be better used as the ransom request:
    Vogon: I've got another copy of Massachusetts that I'm going to drop on you earthlings.
    People of Earth: How much do we have to pay to keep you from doing this?
    Vogon: only $10,000 quadrillion. (A quick search suggests this is 20,000 times the world GNP?)
    ...

  • (Score: 2) by takyon on Friday January 20 2017, @02:36AM

    by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Friday January 20 2017, @02:36AM (#456341) Journal

    It's easy to assign a value to something that can't be economically sold due to physics and current technology.

    I claim Jupiter for $1 trillion decillion.

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    [SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
    • (Score: 2) by Gaaark on Friday January 20 2017, @12:54PM

      by Gaaark (41) on Friday January 20 2017, @12:54PM (#456499) Journal

      How much is that in quatloos, Earthling?

      --
      --- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
  • (Score: 2, Touché) by Ethanol-fueled on Friday January 20 2017, @03:49AM

    by Ethanol-fueled (2792) on Friday January 20 2017, @03:49AM (#456370) Homepage

    The figure was probably also calculated by NASA scientists, who apparently don't know what ten-quintillion is and are outsourcing their calculations to India.

    " I've discovered a new particle .005 micro-picometers in diameter! "

    • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Immerman on Friday January 20 2017, @04:02AM

      by Immerman (3985) on Friday January 20 2017, @04:02AM (#456377)

      Would that quintillion be 10¹⁸ or 10³⁰?

    • (Score: -1, Offtopic) by Ethanol-fueled on Friday January 20 2017, @04:59AM

      by Ethanol-fueled (2792) on Friday January 20 2017, @04:59AM (#456398) Homepage

      My post above was not offtopic. *Harrumph!*

      Now, Niggers, are offtopic and will be for the next 1.5 days because we will see nobody except righteous-but-mislead Whites at the D.C. protests tomorrow. And that's a profound hypothesis because DC is full of Blacks, including Crack-smoking former-mayor Marion Barry. [wikipedia.org]

      Even if Soylentnews runs a story about it then, ni***rs will be offtopic, as there will be no Niggers. Or Bean**s. Just a handful of Whites fooled into bussing in or even flying there and then getting stomped-on by the Hells' Angels and their mamas. It will be Altamont 2.0! [wikipedia.org]

      Let the bloodbath begin.

      • (Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 20 2017, @05:05AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 20 2017, @05:05AM (#456399)

        Whose guarding Whitey's house if none of the Blacks be gonna at the 'nauguration? Alexa? Hey Lexa lemme in bitch I'm robbin ya while yer cracker ass owner is out sucking off Trump cock!!

        • (Score: -1, Flamebait) by Ethanol-fueled on Friday January 20 2017, @05:30AM

          by Ethanol-fueled (2792) on Friday January 20 2017, @05:30AM (#456406) Homepage

          Dassa good point. If I was Black, I'd shouttat all my homies notta protest. Just to inflate the potential protest numbers online identifyin' ourseves as people of Color. Then remind my people, "Yeah, we lost, but at least we can turn the tables on Whitey and laugh at their White-on-White violence like they laugh at our Black-on-Black violence." Then us Blacks can sit comfortable in our scantless apartments laughing heartily smoking blunts and drinking Rossi wine while we watch White-on-White violence. 'Dose pussies ain't shit with'out us. Dey gon' get stomped-on from all-sides.

          Where yo safe space at now, White-boy? White-girl?

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 20 2017, @12:45PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 20 2017, @12:45PM (#456495)

        Strange. Why do you keep making of of your fellow nigger?

        • (Score: 2) by Gaaark on Friday January 20 2017, @01:00PM

          by Gaaark (41) on Friday January 20 2017, @01:00PM (#456502) Journal

          Because of of him!

          --
          --- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
  • (Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 20 2017, @04:05AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 20 2017, @04:05AM (#456378)

    > > the iron alone on today’s market would be worth $10,000 quadrillion.
    > Come on, the market price would collapse long before that much iron could be sold.

    Therefore, today's market, not after mining some or all of it market...

    • (Score: 2) by Osamabobama on Friday January 20 2017, @10:19PM

      by Osamabobama (5842) on Friday January 20 2017, @10:19PM (#456729)

      ...so the book value is $10,000 quadrillion. I see a bubble waiting to inflate. Later, after the market price collapse, regulators will require company reports to restate value in line with then current market value. Investors will lose billions, but the founders will remain rich, lauded as visionaries.

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 20 2017, @01:25PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 20 2017, @01:25PM (#456512)

    Come on, the market price would collapse long before that much iron could be sold.

    That's just a sign that market price is an artifact of a broken system. Iron has intrinsic value, being a pretty good material to construct things out of.

    • (Score: 2) by GreatAuntAnesthesia on Friday January 20 2017, @11:56PM

      by GreatAuntAnesthesia (3275) on Friday January 20 2017, @11:56PM (#456779) Journal

      Exactly. In this situation market collapse == iron is so abundant that everyone can have as much as they need / want. All the useful / beautiful / enjoyable things that can be made from iron would be reduced to cost or labour (robots anyone) plus cost of energy (OK, this one isn't so easy, but it's not unsolvable). And of course it's not just iron - there are other metals in that rock too.

      Post-scarcity utopia anyone?