The Briefing Room

General Category => Science, Technology and Knowledge => Space => Topic started by: Elderberry on June 19, 2019, 12:31:04 am

Title: NASA's Getting Ready to Explore the Corpse of an Ancient Planet in the Asteroid Belt
Post by: Elderberry on June 19, 2019, 12:31:04 am: Live Science by Rafi Letzter 6/12/2019

The naked metallic core of a dead, early planet should soon get a visitor. Orbiting the sun between Mars and Jupiter, the bizarre space rock is the target of a NASA mission that just entered its final design phase this week.

The space agency has targeted the date of Jan. 31, 2026, for the arrival of a spacecraft in the neighborhood of Psyche, a 125-mile-wide (200 kilometers) object in the asteroid belt. Planetary scientists have long suspected that Psyche â€” named after the nymph who married Cupid in Greek mythology â€” made up almost entirely of iron and nickel, might be the exposed core of a long-dead protoplanet from the early days of our solar system. The planet could have once boasted a girth similar to that of Mars before ancient collisions ripped its outer, rocky shell from its relatively dinky core.

More: https://www.livescience.com/65703-asteroid-psyche-probe-iron-mission.html (https://www.livescience.com/65703-asteroid-psyche-probe-iron-mission.html)
Title: Re: NASA's Getting Ready to Explore the Corpse of an Ancient Planet in the Asteroid Belt
Post by: Sanguine on June 19, 2019, 12:35:21 am: Cool!
Title: Re: NASA's Getting Ready to Explore the Corpse of an Ancient Planet in the Asteroid Belt
Post by: Elderberry on June 19, 2019, 12:43:00 am: Quote from: Sanguine on June 19, 2019, 12:35:21 am
Cool!

What an understatement! :lotsosmileys:

https://www.space.com/51-asteroids-formation-discovery-and-exploration.html (https://www.space.com/51-asteroids-formation-discovery-and-exploration.html)
Quote
The average temperature of the surface of a typical asteroid is minus 100 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 73 degrees Celsius).
Title: Re: NASA's Getting Ready to Explore the Corpse of an Ancient Planet in the Asteroid Belt
Post by: Sanguine on June 19, 2019, 12:59:32 am: Quote from: Elderberry on June 19, 2019, 12:43:00 am
What an understatement! :lotsosmileys:

https://www.space.com/51-asteroids-formation-discovery-and-exploration.html (https://www.space.com/51-asteroids-formation-discovery-and-exploration.html)

Good point.
Title: Re: NASA's Getting Ready to Explore the Corpse of an Ancient Planet in the Asteroid Belt
Post by: Bill Cipher on June 19, 2019, 01:21:56 am: When does mining commence?
Title: Re: NASA's Getting Ready to Explore the Corpse of an Ancient Planet in the Asteroid Belt
Post by: Elderberry on June 19, 2019, 01:29:08 am: https://www.outerplaces.com/science/item/17778-700-quintillion-dollar-asteroid-space-mining-gold-rush-mars-jupiter (https://www.outerplaces.com/science/item/17778-700-quintillion-dollar-asteroid-space-mining-gold-rush-mars-jupiter)

Quote
$700 Quintillion Asteroid Ignites Space Mining Gold Rush Between Mars and Jupiter

"The timeline for space mining is the $64,000 question. My opinion is probably 25 years for a 'proof of concept' set-up, and 50 years for a commercial start. But there are so many uncertaintiesâ€”mostly based around economics and the progress of space technology."
Title: Re: NASA's Getting Ready to Explore the Corpse of an Ancient Planet in the Asteroid Belt
Post by: Bill Cipher on June 19, 2019, 01:38:17 am: Quote from: Elderberry on June 19, 2019, 01:29:08 am
https://www.outerplaces.com/science/item/17778-700-quintillion-dollar-asteroid-space-mining-gold-rush-mars-jupiter (https://www.outerplaces.com/science/item/17778-700-quintillion-dollar-asteroid-space-mining-gold-rush-mars-jupiter)

If only I were a younger man.
Title: Re: NASA's Getting Ready to Explore the Corpse of an Ancient Planet in the Asteroid Belt
Post by: Elderberry on June 19, 2019, 01:41:35 am: I hear that!
Title: Re: NASA's Getting Ready to Explore the Corpse of an Ancient Planet in the Asteroid Belt
Post by: Smokin Joe on June 19, 2019, 05:02:46 am: Quote from: Bill Cipher on June 19, 2019, 01:38:17 am
If only I were a younger man.
Now, that, we can agree on.
Title: Re: NASA's Getting Ready to Explore the Corpse of an Ancient Planet in the Asteroid Belt
Post by: Sanguine on June 19, 2019, 01:21:37 pm: Quote from: Smokin Joe on June 19, 2019, 05:02:46 am
Now, that, we can agree on.

You wish that Bill was a younger man? :shrug:
Title: Re: NASA's Getting Ready to Explore the Corpse of an Ancient Planet in the Asteroid Belt
Post by: Joe Wooten on June 19, 2019, 01:41:44 pm: Quote from: Sanguine on June 19, 2019, 01:21:37 pm
You wish that Bill was a younger man? :shrug:

:bigsilly: :bigsilly:
Title: Re: NASA's Getting Ready to Explore the Corpse of an Ancient Planet in the Asteroid Belt
Post by: Taxcontrol on June 19, 2019, 08:13:18 pm: Quote from: Elderberry on June 19, 2019, 01:29:08 am
https://www.outerplaces.com/science/item/17778-700-quintillion-dollar-asteroid-space-mining-gold-rush-mars-jupiter (https://www.outerplaces.com/science/item/17778-700-quintillion-dollar-asteroid-space-mining-gold-rush-mars-jupiter)

Space mining - more specifically Moon mining could begin before that. Titanium appears to be in abundance on the lunar surface.