What will NASA's Psyche mission reveal about the metal asteroid?

The answer

NASA's Psyche spacecraft, launched on October 13, 2023, is heading to asteroid 16 Psyche, an M-type asteroid approximately 226 kilometers in diameter orbiting in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. Scientists believe Psyche may be the exposed metallic core of an early protoplanet that was stripped of its rocky outer layers by violent collisions billions of years ago. If confirmed, it would be the first direct observation of a planetary core, which are otherwise inaccessible deep within rocky planets. The asteroid is composed primarily of iron and nickel, with an estimated value of $10 quintillion in raw metals - though mining it remains purely theoretical. The spacecraft will arrive in August 2029 and spend 26 months orbiting at progressively lower altitudes, using a magnetometer, gamma-ray spectrometer, and multispectral imager to map the surface and measure composition.