一 | CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- NASA’s Psyche spacecraft rocketed away Friday on a six-year journey to a rare metal-covered asteroid.Most asteroids tend to be rocky or icy, and this is the first exploration of a metal world. Scientists believe it may be the battered remains of an early planet's core, and could shed light on the inaccessible centers of Earth and other rocky planets.SpaceX launched the spacecraft into an overcast midmorning sky from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. Named for the asteroid it’s chasing, Psyche should reach the huge, potato-shaped object in 2029.“It's so thrilling,” said Laurie Leshin, director of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Added Arizona State University's Jim Bell, part of the Psyche team: “What a great ride so far.”An hour later, the spacecraft separated successfully from the rocket's upper stage and floated away, drawing applause from ground controllers.After decades of visiting faraway worlds of rock, ice and gas, NASA is psyched to pursue one coated in metal. Of the nine or so metal-rich asteroids discovered so far, Psyche is the biggest, orbiting the sun in the outer portion of the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter alongside millions of other space rocks. It was discovered in 1852 and named after Greek mythology’s captivating goddess of the soul.“It’s long been humans’ dream to go to the metal core of our Earth. I mean, ask Jules Verne,” lead scientist Lindy Elkins-Tanton of Arizona State University said ahead of the launch. “The pressure is too high. The temperature is too high. The technology is impossible,” she said. “But there’s one way in our solar system that we can look at a metal core and that is by going to this asteroid.”Astronomers know from radar and other observations that the asteroid is big — about 144 miles (232 kilometers) across at its widest and 173 miles (280 kilometers) long. They believe it’s brimming with iron, nickel and other metals, and quite possibly silicates, with a dull, predominantly gray surface likely covered with fine metal grains from cosmic impacts.Otherwise, it’s a speck of light in the night sky, full of mystery until the spacecraft reaches it after traveling more than 2 billion miles (3.6 billion kilometers).Scientists envision spiky metal craters, huge metal cliffs and metal-encrusted eroded lava flows greenish-yellow from sulfur — “almost certain to be completely wrong,” according to Elkins-Tanton. It's also possible that trace amounts of gold, silver, platinum or iridium — iron-loving elements — could be dissolved in the asteroid's iron and nickel, she said. “There's a very good chance that it’s going to be outside of our imaginings, and that is my fondest hope," she said.Believed to be a planetary building block from the solar system’s formation 4.5 billion years ago, the asteroid can help answer such fundamental questions as how did life arise on Earth and what makes our planet habitable, according to Elkins-Tanton.On Earth, the planet's iron core is responsible for the magnetic field that shields our atmosphere and enables life.Led by Arizona State University on NASA’s behalf, the $1.2 billion mission will use a roundabout route to get to the asteroid. The van-size spacecraft with solar panels big enough to fill a tennis court will swoop past Mars for a gravity boost in 2026. Three years later, it will reach the asteroid and attempt to go into orbit around it, circling as high as 440 miles (700 kilometers) and as close as 47 miles (75 kilometers) until at least 2031.The spacecraft relies on solar electric propulsion, using xenon gas-fed thrusters and their gentle blue-glowing pulses. An experimental communication system is also along for the ride, using lasers instead of radio waves in an attempt to expand the flow of data from deep space to Earth. NASA expects the test to yield more than 10 times the amount of data, enough to transmit videos from the moon or Mars one day.The spacecraft should have soared a year ago, but was held up by delays in flight software testing attributed to poor management and other issues. The revised schedule added extra travel time. So instead of arriving at the asteroid in 2026 as originally planned, the spacecraft won’t get there until 2029.That’s the same year that another NASA spacecraft — the one that just returned asteroid samples to the Utah desert — will arrive at a different space rock as it buzzes Earth.___The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.。 本文来自微信公众号：财联社 （ID：cailianpress），作者：卞纯 周二，在过去一段时间持续攀高后，黄金价格受到明显打击，创下10多年来最大单日百分比跌幅。不过，许多分析师认为，这是一次早该出现的抛售，但这可能并不意味着金价涨势将就此结束。 “这有点像黄金在原本畅通的高速公路上撞到了一个意想不到的坑。
二 | ”Libertas Wealth Management Group总裁兼高级财务顾问Adam Koos周二表示，“它已经顺利地行驶了一段时间，但市场时不时地会猛踩刹车，以确保乘客仍然清醒。” 周二，国际金价大跌，部分原因是在美国降息预期和避险需求推动创纪录上涨后，投资者获利了结。 纽约商品交易所12月黄金期货收于每盎司4109.10美元，下跌5.7%。根据道琼斯市场数据公司对FactSet数据的分析，这是自2013年6月20日以来最大的单日百分比跌幅。而现货黄金价格盘中跌幅一度达到6.3%，这一跌幅创下了自2013年4月以来的最大单日下跌纪录，最终收跌5.3%，至每盎司4123.85美元。 StoneX市场分析师Fawad Razaqzada表示，金价在周一创下历史新高，随后在周二大幅回落，这引发了人们对金价是否已经触顶或仅仅是短暂回调的疑问。 他在周二的一份报告中写道，周二是“贵金属领域遭遇重创的一天，考虑到之前金价一路飙升，这种抛售迟早会发生。甚至有些人会质疑这一天为何来得这么晚。” 虽然“货币贬值交易”和投资者的防御性情绪推动了金价上涨，但Razaqzada指出，本周有几个因素削弱了这种防御性情绪。
三 | 这些因素包括贸易紧张局势缓和、避险需求下降、美元反弹以及黄金投资者准备获利了结。 然而，周二的下跌可能并不意味着涨势已经结束。 Razaqzada表示，现在就认为整体牛市趋势已经结束还为时过早。“虽然回调是正常的，但值得指出的是，许多投资者错过了这轮大涨。
四 | 很快，他们可能会进场，逢低买入，这应该会抑制抛售。” 即使考虑到周二的下跌，黄金期货价格今年迄今仍上涨了近56%。 世界黄金协会（WGC）美洲地区首席执行官兼全球研究主管Juan Carlos Artigas周二在X上表示，虽然有些人可能认为黄金价格昂贵，但“与全球股市相比，事实并非如此。” 他补充道：“（黄金）价格并非孤立存在。
五 | 价值总是与更广阔的市场环境相关。” Artigas表示，金融市场在经历了一段时间的快速上涨之后出现回调是正常的，就像黄金所经历的那样。他在电子邮件评论中表示，尽管过去几周金价的表现受到了动能因素的推动，但“我们认为金价的上涨也受到了强劲基本面的推动，比如地缘经济不确定性上升、美国货币供应稳步增加，以及利率下调。” 他表示：“我们的分析显示，黄金投资市场尚未饱和，仍有增长空间。
六 | ” 世界黄金协会（WGC）周一发布的当周图表显示，以伦敦金银市场协会（LBMA）午后黄金定价周均值为代表的黄金价值，相对于以摩根士丹利资本国际全球指数（MSCI World Index）为代表的全球股市，仍远低于上世纪80年代以来的历史高点。 WGC在报告中表示：“我们仍然认为，黄金当前仍处于持仓不足状态……在建设性的基本面与全球流动性增强的支撑下，金价仍有进一步上涨的空间。” Libertas Wealth Management的Koos也指出，金价的下跌“看起来不像所有人都在等待的大抛售。”相反，他表示，“这看起来更像是在经历了一段漫长而平稳的上涨时期后的一次重新调整。” “金价几周来持续走高，因此一些获利了结，甚至是像这样的洗盘行情，都有助于在潜在的下一波上涨之前清除短期投机者，”Koos表示。 他称，就目前而言，黄金的最新走势“感觉更像是中途停留，而不是旅程的终点”。
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