There's Gold in Them Thar Hills... Err.. Asteroids - The Space Gold Rush 'Pot of Gold in the Sky'

Space Prospector on Mars,
Image: TET/DALL.E

NASA is said to be pushing ahead with its plans to launch a mission to a nearby asteroid that potentially contains gold, along with enough quantities of other precious metals, to make everyone on Earth rich beyond their wildest dreams.

At least that's the hyperbolic headline Channel Ten's The Project put on their article, NASA To Explore Golden Asteroid That Could Make Everyone On Earth A Billionaire.

Can you imagine? That's one mega huge 'pot of gold in the sky' just waiting for every tin pot prospector to 3D print spaceship conversions for their rusty old trucks and take off for the new frontier!

You know those Big Cheese, one percenters, with their own personal spaceships, have thought about it, and Space X (Elon Musk's reusable Spaceship Company) is a part of getting the mission off the ground (literally).

As it turns out, while NASA plays down the gold aspect, to the point of barely mentioning the potential value of any of the metal quantities involved, they are planning a trip to the metal asteroid, Pysche, in August of 2023.

Depiction of the spacecraft of NASA’s Psyche mission near
the mission’s target, the metal-rich asteroid Psyche.
Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Arizona State Univ./Space Systems Loral/Peter Rubin

The asteroid is located between Mars and Jupiter, on a steady orbit around our sun. It's thought that the asteroid was once a planet but the outer surface was stripped away leaving only the metallic core. It could give us some insight into what the Earth's own core may be like - if it ever cooled down.

Watch NASA's video about the mission below.

NASA's craft won't reach Psyche until 2029, assuming the mission stays on schedule from this point forward, so that gives you plenty of time to calculate how many weather balloons you'll need to strap to the family car in order to float higher than Mars before then.

Or maybe plan a heist on Area 51 to commandeer that Roswell 'weather balloon' they captured in 1947. That thing probably still flies... couple of jumper leads and it'll be off space prospecting you go.