NASA will launch a spacecraft on Friday to a metallic asteroid in hopes of finding diamonds and rubies.
The mysterious metallic asteroid – known as 16 Psyche – lies between Mars and Jupiter and it will take seven years to reach the potentially lucrative rock.
“I hope we might find diamonds and rubies on that asteroid,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said at a news conference.
The Falcon Heavy spacecraft – made by Elon Musk’s SpaceX – was originally scheduled to launch today, but was delayed until Friday due to “unfavorable weather conditions,” NASA said.
It will lift off on its 4-billion-mile journey on Friday at 10:19 a.m. from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. When it re-enters Earth, it will land in Utah, according to Nelson.
By May 2026, the spacecraft will fly past Mars and will use the planet’s gravity to hurl itself toward the asteroid, according to The Telegraph.
NASA will launch a spacecraft on Friday to a metallic asteroid in hopes of finding diamonds and rubies. Bill Nelson, /X “I hope we might find diamonds and rubies on that asteroid,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said at a news conference. Bill Nelson, /X Scientists speculate that the rock lost its outer shell after several violent collisions billions of years ago, according to The Telegraph. Bill Nelson, /X
It is expected to reach the milestone by 2030, where it will spend 26 months in orbit collecting images and recording topography.
The potato-shaped asteroid was first discovered in 1852 by Italian astronomer Annibale de Gasparis. The asteroid is special because it is “metal-rich,” NASA scientists say, and could be an “early planetesimal core.”
Scientists speculate that the rock lost its outer shell after several violent collisions billions of years ago, according to The Telegraph.
It will be the first metallic object humans have ever visited, NASA said.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
