In The Planetary Science Journal astronomers have identified two asteroids closer to Earth that also contain abundant ‘treasure’, namely 1986 DA and 2016 ED85 which are classified as Near Earth Asteroids (NEA).
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“Our analysis shows that both NEAs have a surface with 85% metals such as iron and nickel and 15% silicate material, which is essentially rock,” said Dr Juan Sanchez of the Planetary Science Institute in a statement. IFL Science, Tuesday (5/10/2021).
This asteroid is similar to some iron meteorites such as mesoiderite found on Earth. It is thought that such asteroids are very rich in metal because they come from objects that grow large enough that most of the metal sinks to their core.
“We believe that these two ‘mini psyche’ may be fragments of asteroid major metal in the main belt,” astronomer David Cantillo.
Asteroid 1986 DA is estimated to be about 2.4 km (1.5 miles) wide. Although small compared to Psyche and Earth, Asteroid 1986 DA contains 28 billion tons of iron and 2.5 billion tons of nickel. Coupled with the content of cobalt and precious metals which are smaller but more valuable.
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“We estimate that the amount of metal present in 1986 DA could exceed worldwide reserves,” he said. There is also a fair amount of gold and copper. If space mining becomes commercially viable, one asteroid could supply us for a very long time.
Previously, astronomers discovered Psyche which is a asteroid the largest metal-rich in the Solar System. Psyche is thought to be made of iron and nickel. Unfortunately Psyche is never closer than 2.5 astronomical units from the Sun.
The cost of bringing Psyche’s mines to Earth would be enormous. NASA has a mission planned to launch next year to examine Psyche.
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