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
(Score: 0, Flamebait) by Ethanol-fueled on Friday January 20 2017, @05:41AM
Rare-Earth metals are where it's at, and the Chinks have them.
The next world war will be not about artificial islands or currency manipulation or the One-China policy, [wikipedia.org] it will be about rare-Earth metals. Countries are literally bottom-feeding, scraping the seafloor for them. Especially around the South-China Sea. The problem is, that Americans are weary of going to war over natural resources, so it must be spun about something else equally unpalatable to anybody with half a brain, but I digress.
You read it here first.
As you did my previous guess, which was posted [soylentnews.org] before the official release.
(Score: 2) by Scruffy Beard 2 on Friday January 20 2017, @06:51AM
Rare Earths are not actually that rare.