We would NOT have to haul all the custom specialized mining and refining factories out there, or have a perfect understanding of what and where the material was. We could send a spacecraft with a half dozen industrial 3D printers, maybe a dozen or more mining and construction robots, and an advanced AI with a mission program to learn and use insitu materials to begin long term construction of a facility years or decades ahead of human arrival. Its progress could be monitored and adjusted over time to make sure it is proceeding on track.

The same tech could be used to pre-construct space bases on the moon and Mars. And of course the process would be used and refined there before ever being sent to Psyche or other deeper space locations. Robots don’t require the level of “life support” humans do. Obviously this level of technology does not currently exist but I don’t believe it’s more than a few decades down the road.

You could, with an asteroid like psyche make a habitat that housed a HUGE number of people… but every human body radiates approximately 100 watts of heat- not counting all the equipment they might want to use- you need a way to power all of that and then radiate it away so you don’t kill everyone with high temperature…

I am not saying it is impossible, but I am saying its a problem far more complex than just making a big spaceship- especially when you factor in the many unknowns…

Just my two cents- which- if invested now, and allowed to gain interest over millennia might finance such an endeavor…

The cost per pound to launch a payload to Low Earth Orbit (LEO) varies significantly by provider and the type of mission, with current prices ranging from approximately $1,200 to over $10,000 per pound.

Historically, the Space Shuttle program cost nearly $30,000 per pound (in 2021 dollars). However, the introduction of reusable rockets by companies like SpaceX has dramatically reduced these costs.

Current LEO Launch Costs Per Pound
Provider/Vehicle Cost per Pound (approx.)

SpaceX Falcon Heavy $690 – $1,400 per kg ($313 – $635/lb)

SpaceX Falcon 9 ~$1,200 – $2,700 per pound

NASA SLS ~$70,000 per pound

ULA Atlas V ~$4,300 – $8,500+ per pound

These figures generally represent the cost of the launch itself and do not include the cost of building the satellite or cargo, which can also vary widely.

I’ll concede commercial space ventures have cut costs dramatically, but do these listed numbers reflect the actual cost per launch, or does it include the development and operations
costs and the required infrastructure as well? And remember, these all reflect unmanned launches to LEO only. The expense of supporting a manned mining station in the asteroid belt, with all the safety, support and supply required would be astronomical. Granted, once out of the gravity well, energy costs drop dramatically. But keeping crews alive and happy in Outland (it takes a couple of years just to get there), plus providing a full mining and refining capability, would involve astronomical costs. (No pun intended).

The cost of rare earths varies wildly by element, purity, and market conditions, ranging from hundreds to tens of thousands of dollars per kilogram, with key elements like Neodymium oxide (NdPr) fluctuating around $80-$90/kg, while high-purity Dysprosium oxide can be $280+/kg, and lighter elements like Cerium oxide or Lanthanum oxide can be in the low dollars per kilogram or $1,000s per metric ton, driven by demand for magnets (EVs, wind turbines) and influenced heavily by China’s production dominance.
–That’s what AI sez…

I hate to keep harping on this (although I’d be delighted if you could come up with an argument that will refute me) but this is Elon Musk space groupie talk, designed to get politicians or investors to cough up cash to finance a mission (and the contracts) to go there. Still, the scientific value of an alien technology, or even of an indigenous life form, would certainly make it worth our while, although it might take centuries to fully exploit it.

As for hollowing her out and spinning her up for artificial gravity, I couldn’t tell you. I used to be able to do that kind of math, but that was 50 years ago.

Psyche is tilted on its axis almost on its side, so it rotates like a rotisserie chicken, completing a rotation approximately every 4.2 hours. It’s 220 km in diameter. How big would an inner cavern have to be for the spin to create an acceptable level of artificial gravity? Any hollow section could certainly be expanded. I wonder if its rotation could be sped up?

Yeah getting way out into sci fi land here but fun to speculate.

This by itself means little, albedo for icy bodies is often very high, as well as for cloud-shrouded worlds like earth or the gas giants.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/16_Psyche