Asteroid Worth $195b: DSI Hopes to Collect Minable Metals and Rocket Fuel (VIDEO)

An asteroid expected to pass near earth on Feb. 15 could be worth a lot of money-$195 billion, actually.

The asteroid, named 2012 DA14, is only 150 feet across according to NASA, but DSI believes it's worth quite a bit. Experts are estimating that if 10 percent of the asteroid were made of minable metals, they could be worth as much as $130 billion. If another 5 percent of the asteroid could be mined for water, it could be used as a $65 billion worth of rocket fuel in space.

The asteroid will pass within just 17,200 miles of the earth according to the Examiner. By coming within one-thirteenth the distance from the earth to the moon, NASA reports that it will set a record by an object of its size.

This week Deep Space Industries (DSI), a company that wants to develop the technology to mine asteroids, made the somewhat melancholic estimate that DA14 could contain metals and propellant worth as much as $195 billion.

"While this week's visitor isn't going the right way for us to harvest it, there will be others that are, and we want to be ready when they arrive," said Rick Tumlinson, Chairman of DSI. "Even with conservative estimates of the potential value of any given asteroid, if we begin to utilize them in space they are all the equivalent of a space oasis for refueling and resupply."

However, as the asteroid will fly by the Earth traveling at 17,400 miles per hour according to DSI, it will not be likely that large sums will be made.

DSI is hoping to begin space mining around the year 2020. In the meantime, the company will be sending "FireFly" probes to examine asteroids, and later "DragonFly" probes that will take samples of the asteroid.

NASA will also be sending probes to investigate asteroids before 2020. In 2016, the agency will launch the OSIRIS-REx probe, which will visit the Earth-threatening asteroid 1999 RQ36.