There's An Asteroid Worth $10 Quintillion And I'm Going To Steal It
The Independent: An asteroid with an estimated worth of $10 quintillion could shed light on the formation of the solar system.
The valuable piece of space debris, which is floating in our solar system’s asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, is worth $10,000,000,000,000,000,000. That is five million times more than the UK’s £2 trillion GDP, and 10,000 times more than the 2019 global economy. At approximately 140 miles in diameter – approximately one quarter the length of the entire United Kingdom – the asteroid is one of the largest objects in the belt.
The reason this particular asteroid, which is classified as 16 Psyche, is worth so much is that it is composed almost totally of iron and nickel. Most asteroids are predominantly rocky or icy, with some having a slight degree of metal. Few have been seen that are almost totally comprised of the precious material.
*If you are the FBI, NASA, or whoever is in charge of making sure people don't steal asteroids, please read no further.
Forget the lottery. Forget robbing banks. Forget getting a "job" and saving "money." There's a new get-rich-quick scheme, and it's finding a way to steal this asteroid that's somehow worth $10 quintillion. That's 18 zeroes. 10,000,000,000,000,000,000 dollars. I don't know how it's possible to know a huge ass rock floating through space millions of miles away is worth 10,000 times more than the global economy, but apparently it's made up of a bunch of iron and nickel.
I don't know how it'll be done, but I do know there will definitely be some kind of race between the different world powers to find a way to get this asteroid and mine it for all its worth. Probably some eccentric, rich individuals with money to blow. I'm picturing like Despicable Me where the guy tries to steal the moon. I, myself, would love to get involved in this somehow. Sure, I don't have the money, resources, or skills to figure out how to steal an asteroid, but if you believe in yourself, anything can happen.
Also, in general, it is crazy to me that we don't have a better game plan for asteroids. It's at least once a month where you see some news article saying that an asteroid is heading towards Earth but should miss us. And that's it. No plan for the just in case chance that it does hit us. Just some guy at NASA staring out into space and saying, "Ehhh, I think we're probably good."
If this asteroid really is worth so much money and we are somehow able to take advantage of it, then maybe it will get chosen as a top movie hero in a Barstool Chicago snake draft 10 years from now.