NASA engineers have entered the final phase of preparing the Psyche mission. As part of this, the spacecraft will be sent to the asteroid of the same name, which is made almost entirely of metals such as iron, nickel and gold.

The Psyche spacecraft spent last year at the Astrotech Space Operations Facility near Kennedy Space Center. There, engineers from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) worked on final assembly and testing ahead of the scheduled launch on Oct.

The device, which will be launched using the SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket, will travel towards the asteroid (16) Psyche, which is approximately 279 kilometers in diameter. This space object orbits inside the asteroid belt. To get there, you have to cover about 4 billion kilometers in six years.

The asteroid “(16) Psyche” is called one of the largest pearls in the solar system. Scientists have only recently realized how valuable it can be, both economically and scientifically.

Previous distant observations led to the disappointing conclusion that the asteroid could be the remnant of a failed planet’s core during the Solar System’s formation phase. It consists almost entirely of exposed metals.

Scientists previously said, “If we could seize such a large piece of space, it would be worth more than the world economy combined, about 10 quintillion dollars.”

However, the real value of Psyche is the opportunity to see what our planet’s core might look like. On Earth, we try to determine the shape, structure and properties of the planet’s core using seismic data. It’s like trying to reconstruct a buried elephant using only X-rays. Psyche will provide an unprecedented view of the planet’s core and a better understanding of how Earth is structured.

In addition, the mission will also serve as a testing ground for technologies that can be used in manned flights in the future. The launch itself will be Falcon Heavy’s first interplanetary mission and will lay the foundation for future launches to Mars.