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NASA is chasing a cosmic prize that could change the world — but not necessarily for the better. The American space agency is currently en route to asteroid 16 Psyche, a space rock estimated to hold precious metals worth an astonishing $10,000,000,000,000,000,000 — or $10 quintillion.
If those numbers feel surreal, it’s because they are. To put it in perspective, that’s nearly 100,000 times more than the entire world’s GDP, which currently hovers around $100 trillion. Theoretically, if this wealth were divided among Earth’s population — all 8.06 billion of us — every person would walk away with roughly $1.2 billion in metal value alone.
A Mission Years in the Making
NASA’s pursuit of 16 Psyche isn’t a sci-fi fantasy — it’s already in motion. The agency launched its spacecraft in October 2023 from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The spacecraft is now racing through the void at about 84,000 mph, targeting a rendezvous with the asteroid by August 2029. The journey covers 2.5 billion miles, making it one of the most ambitious resource-exploration missions ever attempted.
According to NASA engineers, this mission is more than just a quest for riches. They believe 16 Psyche may actually be the exposed nickel-iron core of an early planet, one of the solar system’s original building blocks. Studying it could offer unmatched insight into how rocky planets — including Earth — form and evolve.
The asteroid spans an area of approximately 64,000 square miles (165,800 square kilometres), and scientists estimate that it is composed of 30 to 60 percent metal, including gold, iron, nickel, platinum, and cobalt.
Could Too Much Gold Collapse the Market?
While the scientific value of the mission is undeniable, the economic implications have sparked fierce debate. With that much gold and precious metal in space, what happens if we bring it back to Earth?
Some users online argue that it could crash the gold market entirely, rendering the metal virtually worthless. One commenter noted, “It won’t make anyone a billionaire — it’ll turn billionaires into zeroes.” Another added, “Gold would drop to a fraction of a penny per ounce — basic supply and demand.”
In short, unleashing this much precious metal into the global market could disrupt everything from national reserves to investment strategies.
Scientific Discovery vs. Economic Shockwave
Despite public speculation, NASA doesn’t plan to mine the asteroid anytime soon. The mission is primarily for exploration and data collection, not resource extraction. However, that hasn’t stopped imaginations from running wild — and for good reason. The economic, political, and technological ripple effects of space mining could reshape civilisation as we know it.
Even though 16 Psyche is millions of miles away, its influence is already being felt in boardrooms and online forums alike. Investors, economists, and tech enthusiasts are all asking the same question: If we can access infinite resources in space, what does that mean for wealth on Earth?
What Comes Next?
As the spacecraft inches closer to its 2029 arrival date, scientists continue to study 16 Psyche from afar. New data is constantly reshaping our understanding of the asteroid’s composition and potential.
Whether it turns out to be the cosmic jackpot people imagine — or simply a scientific treasure chest that helps us understand our planetary past — one thing is certain: NASA’s Psyche mission is one of the most exciting undertakings in modern space exploration.
Stay tuned. The future of wealth might be orbiting somewhere between Mars and Jupiter.