Asteroid worth $10 quintillion discovered more than 100 years ago

(NewsNation) — An asteroid that could be worth up to $10 quintillion was discovered 172 years ago, and NASA is just now launching a mission to explore it.

Psyche — the name of the asteroid — is thought to contain valuable metals like gold, iron, platinum, palladium and nickel, which could be worth a jaw-dropping amount of money. But it isn't recently discovered.

The asteroid was first discovered in 1852 by an Italian astronomer. It was the 16th asteroid discovered and was named after the Greek goddess of the soul. With a surface area of 64,000 square miles, scientists believe Psyche is made up of 30% to 60% metal.