With the United States of America currently in $3.7T debt, according to nationalpriorities.org, getting out of the deficit any time soon doesn't seem feasible.
What the U.S. needs is to acquire a mass amount of cash fast or somehow find the money lying around, both of which seem out of the question:
The selling of American goods is at an all-time low and short of begging Bill Gates for a loan, finding $3.7T is just as likely as winning the lottery.
If only there was something worth a large sum of money that the U.S. could use as a payoff.
Well, according to inquisitor.com, an asteroid, called 2012 DA14, worth $195B (in metals and propellant) will fly close to earth on (late) Wednesday.
Wired noted that the asteroid will travel so close to earth that it will skim by TV and communication satellites.
If NASA scientists could only catch it, the U.S. could start the paying process.
Unfortunately, "it would be too hard to catch," said Deep Space Industries, a private company that wants to mine the asteroid, who estimated its value, according to Network World.
Some even Question the legitimacy of DSI's calculation, but company officals put any doubts to rest by laying out exactly how they got to the $195B estimate.
From Network World:
"If 2012 DA14 contains 5% recoverable water, that alone - in space as rocket fuel - might be worth as much as $65 billion. If 10% of its mass It could mass which could range from as little as 16,000 tons or as much as one million tons - is easily recovered iron, nickel and other metals, that could be worth - in space as building material - an additional $130 billion," said the DSI experts.
NASA officials noted that asteroids of its size fly by earth every 40 years or so. Once every 1,200 years or so one will actually hit the earth, according to inquisitor.com.
This all being said, NASA is just glad the asteroid won't collide with earth, according to inquisitor.com.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
