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Mining Of Golden Asteroid Foretold In 1898 Science Fiction
It appears that Psyche 16, an otherwise unassuming asteroid in orbit around our Sun, contains $10,000 quadrillion dollars worth of gold.
(Psyche 16 the golden asteroid)
Scott Moore, who heads up EuroSun Mining, said the sheer amount of gold in the asteroid threatens to throw the gold industry into chaos."The 'Titans of Gold' now control hundreds of the best-producing properties around the world," he told Oil Price.
"But the 4-5 million ounces of gold they bring to the market every year pales in comparison to the conquests available in space."
Nasa is launching a mission to probe the asteroid in summer 2022. Dubbed the Discovery Mission, it will arrive at Psyche 16 around 2026.
But bringing back an asteroid of this value could completely wipe out our global economy.
Fox)
In 1898, writer Garrett P. Serviss wrote about the then-exotic idea of asteroid mining, detailing a golden asteroid, in his classic Edison's Conquest of Mars:
The Golden Asteroid!For a moment we were startled beyond expression. The truth had flashed upon us.
This must be a golden planet—this little asteroid. If it were not composed internally of gold it could never have made me weigh three times more than I ought to weigh.
"But where is the gold?" cried one.
"Covered up, of course," said Lord Kelvin. "Buried in star dust. This asteroid could not have continued to travel for millions of years through regions of space strewn with meteoric particles without becoming covered with the inevitable dust and grime of such a journey. We must dig down, and then doubtless we shall find the metal."
This hint was instantly acted upon. Something that would serve for a spade was seized by one of the men, and in a few minutes a hole had been dug in the comparatively light soil of the asteroid.
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