Elon Musk’s Space Tesla: Check Its Current Location After 7 Years in Orbit
According to CNET, Mr. Musk’s vehicle was mistakenly and momentarily labeled an asteroid earlier this year.
SpaceX initially tested its potent Falcon Heavy rocket a little more than seven years ago. The cherry-red sports car is still orbiting the sun after SpaceX CEO Elon Musk’s personal Tesla Roadster and a mannequin named Starman were launched into space in February 2018.
Ben Pearson developed Whereisroadster.com to track the red car’s voyage through space. The website tracks the car’s location regularly and determines how far it has traveled. The website states that the vehicle’s launch occurred precisely seven years and fourteen days ago. According to the Roadster, it has “driven” around 3.5 trillion miles.
Mr. Pearson’s research indicates that the car’s orbit around the sun takes roughly 557 days. Thus, the vehicle has exceeded its 36,000-mile guarantee by more than 97,002 times since it was first introduced in 2018. “It has achieved a fuel economy of 11,782.9 kilometers per liter,” the website stated.
‘Space Oddity’ by David Bowie was played at the beginning of the car’s remarkable journey. The aboard mannequin would have heard Bowie’s masterwork more than 698,000 times if the speakers and battery had remained functional.
In contrast, since its launch, the mannequin known as Starman has made about 4.6161 orbits around the Sun. “The car has made 86.8 trips around the globe, which is the equivalent of driving every road on the planet. The launch occurred seven years, fourteen days, eight hours, nine minutes, and fifty-eight seconds ago,” the statement stated.
It’s interesting to note that, according to CNET, Mr. Musk’s vehicle was mistakenly and momentarily labeled an asteroid earlier this year. On January 2, the Minor Planet Center of the International Astronomical Union released a bulletin announcing the discovery of 2018 CN41 as a new near-Earth object. However, the organization said in a follow-up announcement that it had misclassified the vehicle as an asteroid.
“The next day, it was noted that the orbit aligns with the Falcon Heavy Upper Stage of the Tesla Roadster, an artificial object 2018-017A. The warning stated, “The designation 2018 CN41 is being removed and will be listed as omitted.”
According to a team at Whereisroadster.com, the red sports vehicle will come within a few hundred thousand kilometers of the planet where it was manufactured in 2091, marking a close encounter.
Notably, on February 6, 2018, Starman and Elon Musk launched Roaster into orbit.
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