A viral story has been circulating on social media featuring a metallic asteroid and a headline-grabbing claim: “NASA reveals plans to land on Asteroid Psyche 16. It contains gold and rare metals worth over 700 quintillion dollars -enough to make every human on Earth a billionaire!”

claim: https://www.facebook.com/groups/814204010473746/posts/1354153389812136/

While there is a real NASA mission currently traveling through deep space to visit this unique object, the viral post blends scientific excitement with economic impossibility.

Here is the breakdown of the facts.

                                                                                       The $700 Quintillion Question

The “700 quintillion” figure is a theoretical calculation, not a bankable reality. Scientists estimate that 16 Psyche—an asteroid roughly 226 kilometers (140 miles) wide is composed of 30% to 60% metal, primarily iron and nickel.

If you multiply the mass of these metals by current Earth market prices, you reach astronomical numbers. However, basic economics dictates that if we actually brought that much metal back to Earth, the global market would be flooded. Gold and iron would become as common as gravel, causing their value to crash toward zero. You cannot be a billionaire if the “treasure” you hold no longer has value.

NASA’s Mission: To Orbit, Not to Land
Contrary to the viral headline, NASA has no plans to land on 16 Psyche. The mission, which launched in October 2023, is strictly an orbiter mission.

The spacecraft is a scientific laboratory designed to circle the asteroid from a distance. It does not carry a landing craft, drilling equipment, or a return capsule. Its tools—including a multispectral imager and a gamma-ray spectrometer—are meant to “see” the asteroid’s history from above, not to extract its minerals.

Source: https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/psyche/

A Journey to the Core of a Planet
The true value of 16 Psyche isn’t financial – it’s scientific. Astronomers believe the asteroid is the exposed metallic core of a “protoplanet.” Early in the solar system’s history, a violent collision likely stripped away the rocky outer layers of a developing planet, leaving the metal heart exposed.

Because we cannot travel to the center of the Earth due to extreme heat and pressure, visiting Psyche is the only way for humans to study a planetary core directly. It is a “time machine” that shows us how our own world was formed billions of years ago.

Current Mission Status: February 2026
As of late February 2026, the Psyche spacecraft is healthy and on course. It is currently navigating the void between Earth and Mars, traveling at approximately 25.3 km/s (56,600 mph).

The next major milestone is the Mars Gravity Assist in May 2026. The spacecraft will fly past the Red Planet, using its gravitational pull to slingshot itself toward the main asteroid belt. It is not scheduled to arrive at the asteroid until August 2029.

Real-time Tracking: https://www.google.com/search?q=https://eyes.nasa.gov/apps/solar-system/%23/sc_psyche

A Misleading “Space Myth”
The image shared in viral posts is a digital artist’s concept, as we won’t have actual high-resolution photos until 2029. While the mission is a feat of human engineering, it is a quest for knowledge, not a shortcut to global wealth.