Engineering:Elon Musk's Tesla Roadster
Elon Musk's Tesla Roadster; Earth in background | |
Names | SpaceX Roadster[1] Starman[1] |
---|---|
Mission type | Test flight |
Operator | SpaceX |
COSPAR ID | 2018-017A |
SATCAT no. | 43205 |
Mission duration | Active: 1 Day In Orbit: 6 years, 9 months and 14 days |
Spacecraft properties | |
Spacecraft type | 2010 Tesla Roadster[2] used as a mass simulator, attached to the upper stage of a Falcon Heavy rocket |
Manufacturer | Tesla and SpaceX |
Launch mass |
|
Start of mission | |
Launch date | 20:45:00, February 6, 2018 (UTC) |
Rocket | Falcon Heavy FH-001 |
Launch site | Kennedy LC-39A |
Contractor | SpaceX |
End of mission | |
Deactivated | February 7, 2018 |
Orbital parameters | |
Reference system | Heliocentric |
Eccentricity | 0.25571[4] |
Perihelion altitude | 0.98613 astronomical unit|au (147,523,000 km)[4] |
Aphelion altitude | 1.6637 au (248,890,000 km)[4] |
Inclination | 1.077°[4] |
Period | 1.525 year[4] |
Epoch | 1 May 2018 |
Elon Musk's Tesla Roadster is an electric sports car that served as the dummy payload for the February 2018 Falcon Heavy test flight and became an artificial satellite of the Sun. A mannequin in a spacesuit, dubbed "Starman", occupies the driver's seat. The car and rocket are products of Tesla and SpaceX, respectively, both companies headed by Elon Musk.[5] The 2010 Roadster is personally owned by and previously used by Musk for commuting to work.[2] It is the first production car launched into space.
The car, mounted on the rocket's second stage, was launched on an escape trajectory and entered an elliptical heliocentric orbit crossing the orbit of Mars.[6] The orbit reaches a maximum distance from the Sun at aphelion of 1.66 astronomical units (au).[4] Live video of the Roadster during the launch was transmitted back to the mission control center and live-streamed for slightly over four hours.[7]
Advertising analysts noted Musk's sense of brand management and use of new media for his decision to launch a Tesla into space. Musk explained he wanted to inspire the public about the "possibility of something new happening in space" as part of his larger vision for spreading humanity to other planets.[8]
Background
In March 2017, SpaceX's founder, Elon Musk, said that because the launch of the new Falcon Heavy vehicle was risky, it would carry the "silliest thing we can imagine".[9]
In June 2017, one of his Twitter followers suggested that the silly thing be a Tesla Model S, to which Musk replied: "Suggestions welcome!"[10][11][12][13]
In December 2017, Musk announced that the payload would be his personal "midnight cherry Tesla Roadster".[14][15][16][17]
One of the test flight objectives was to demonstrate that the new rocket could carry a payload as far as the orbit of Mars. NASA deputy administrator Lori Garver stated that SpaceX had "offered free launches to NASA, United States Air Force etc. but got no takers", and that "the Tesla gimmick was the backup".[18]
The Roadster is the first standard roadworthy vehicle sent into space,[19] following several special-purpose lunar and Mars rovers.[citation needed]
Roadster as payload
The car was permanently mounted on the rocket in an inclined position above the payload adapter. Tubular structures were added to mount front and side cameras. Photos of the car prior to payload encapsulation were released.[20]
Positioned in the driver's seat is "Starman", a full-scale human mannequin clad in a SpaceX pressure spacesuit.[21] It was placed with the right hand on the steering wheel and the left elbow resting on the open window sill. The mannequin was named after the David Bowie song "Starman",[22] and the car's sound system was set before launch to continuously loop the Bowie song "Space Oddity".[23]
A copy of Douglas Adams' novel The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is in the glove box, along with references to the book in the form of a towel and a sign on the dashboard that reads "DON'T PANIC!".[24] A Hot Wheels miniature Roadster with a miniature Starman is mounted on the dashboard. A plaque bearing the names of the employees who worked on the project is placed underneath the car, and a message on the vehicle's circuit board reads "Made on Earth by humans".[25] The car also carries a copy of Isaac Asimov's Foundation trilogy on a 5D optical disc, a proof of concept for high-density long-lasting data storage, donated to Musk by the Arch Mission Foundation.[26][27]
Trajectory
The US Office of Commercial Space Transportation issued the test flight's launch license on February 2, 2018.[28] The rocket lifted off from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center[28] at 15:45 EST (20:45 UTC) on February 6.[29] The upper stage supporting the car was initially placed in an Earth parking orbit.[6] It spent six hours coasting through the Van Allen radiation belts, thereby demonstrating a new capability requested by the United States Air Force for direct insertion of heavy intelligence satellites into geostationary orbit. Then, the upper stage performed a second boost to reach the desired escape trajectory.[30][31][32]
The launch was live streamed, and video feeds from space showed the Roadster at various angles, with Earth in the background, thanks to cameras placed inside and outside the car, on booms attached to the vehicle's custom adaptor atop the upper stage.[33][34] Musk had estimated the car's battery would last over 12 hours, but the live stream ran for just over four hours, thus ending before the final boost out of Earth orbit.[7][35][36] The images were released by SpaceX into the public domain on their Flickr account.[37][38]
Following the launch, the rocket stage carrying the car was given the Satellite Catalog Number 43205, named "TESLA ROADSTER/FALCON 9H", along with the COSPAR designation 2018-017A.[39] The JPL Horizons system publishes solutions for the trajectory as target body "-143205".[1][4]
The Roadster is in a heliocentric orbit that crosses the orbit of Mars and reaches a distance of 1.66 au from the Sun.[6] With an inclination of roughly 1 degree to the ecliptic plane, compared to Mars' 1.85° inclination, this trajectory by design cannot intercept Mars, so the car will neither fly by Mars nor enter an orbit around Mars.[40] This was the second object launched by SpaceX to leave Earth orbit, after the DSCOVR mission to the Earth–Sun L1 Lagrangian point. Nine months after launch, the Tesla had travelled beyond the orbit of Mars,[41] reaching aphelion at 12:48 UTC on November 9, 2018, at a distance of 248,892,559 km (1.664 au) from the Sun.[4] The maximum speed of the car relative to the Sun will be approximately 121,000 km/h (75,000 mph) at perihelion.[42]
Even if the rocket had targeted an actual Mars transfer orbit, the car could not have been placed into orbit around Mars, because the upper stage that carries it is not equipped with the necessary propellant, maneuvering, and communications capabilities. This flight simply demonstrated that Falcon Heavy is capable of launching significant payloads towards Mars in potential future missions.[40]
Cultural impact
The car in space quickly became a topic for Internet memes.[43][44] Western Australia Police distributed a picture of a radar gun aimed at the Roadster whilst above Australia.[45][46] Škoda produced a parody video of a Škoda Superb being driven to Mars (a village in central France).[47][48] An attempt was made by Donut Media to launch a Hot Wheels Tesla Model X to the stratosphere using a weather balloon.[49][50] ToSky, a Russian start-up, sent a scale model of a Soviet-era Lada carrying a mannequin of Roscosmos head Dmitry Rogozin to an altitude of 20 km (12 miles) to gather test data for the design of stratostats.[51]
Some news reports observed a similarity between the real pictures of a car orbiting the Earth and the title sequence of the animated cult classic film Heavy Metal (1981), where a space traveler lands on Earth in a two-seater Chevrolet Corvette convertible.[52][53]
The SpaceX launch live stream reached over 2.3 million concurrent viewers on YouTube, which made it the second most watched live event on the platform, behind another space-related event: Felix Baumgartner's jump from the stratosphere in 2012.[54]
Reactions
The choice of the Roadster as a dummy payload was variously interpreted as marketing for Tesla, or a work of art, with some worrying about the risk to contamination of otherwise sterile solar system bodies. Some also commented on how the Roadster was not a space debris risk.
Marketing
Musk was lauded as a visionary marketer and brand manager by controlling both the timing and the content of his corporate public relations.[55][56][57][58] After the launch, Scientific American said using a car was not entirely pointless, in the sense that something of that size and weight was necessary for a meaningful test. "Thematically, it was a perfect fit" to use the Tesla car, and there was no reason not to take the opportunity to remind the auto industry that Musk was challenging the status quo in that arena, as well as in space.[55] Advertising Age agreed with Business Insider that the Roadster space launch was the "greatest ever car commercial without a dime spent on advertising", demonstrating that Musk is "miles ahead of the rest" in reaching young consumers, where "mere mortals scrabble about spending millions to fight each other over seconds of air time", Musk "just executes his vision."[56][57] Alex Hern, technology reporter for The Guardian , said the choice to launch a car was a "hybrid of genuine breakthrough and nerd-baiting publicity stunt" without "any real point beyond generating good press pics", which should not detract from the much more important technological milestone represented by the launch of the rocket itself.[59]
Lori Garver, a former NASA deputy director, initially said the choice of payload for the Falcon Heavy maiden flight is a gimmick and a loss of opportunity to further advance science—but later clarified that "I was told by a SpaceX VP (vice president) at the launch that they offered free launches to NASA, Air Force etc. but got no takers."[60]
Musk responded to the critics stating he wanted to inspire the public about the "possibility of something new happening in space," as part of his larger vision for spreading humanity to other planets.[8]
Work of art
The Verge likened the Roadster to a "ready-made" work of art, such as Marcel Duchamp's 1917 piece Fountain, created by placing an everyday object in an unusual position, context and orientation.[61]
Alice Gorman, a lecturer in archaeology and space studies at Flinders University in Australia, said that the Roadster's primary purpose is symbolic communication, that "the red sports car symbolises masculinity – power, wealth and speed[62] – but also how fragile masculinity is." Drawing on anthropological theories of symbols, she argues that "The car is also an armour against dying, a talisman that quells a profound fear of mortality."[63] Gorman wrote that "the spacesuit is also about death. [...] The Starman was never alive, but now he's haunting space."[63]
Space debris non-risk
Orbital debris expert Darren McKnight stated that the car poses no risk because it is far from Earth orbit. He added: "The enthusiasm and interest that [Musk] generates more than offsets the infinitesimally small 'littering' of the cosmos."[64] Tommy Sanford, director of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation, said that the car and its rocket stage are no more "space junk" than the mundane material usually launched on other test flights. Mass simulators are often deliberately placed in a graveyard orbit or sent on a deep space trajectory, where they are not a hazard.[65]
Bacteriological contamination
The Planetary Society was concerned that launching a non-sterile object to interplanetary space may risk biological contamination of a foreign world.[66] Scientists at Purdue University noted that the vehicle will be sterilized by solar radiation over time and the vehicle is most likely to hit the Earth in the future, though some bacteria might survive on some components of the vehicle which could contaminate Mars in the distant future if it were to hit Mars instead.[67]
Orbit tracking
The car and the upper stage were passivated by intentionally removing remaining chemical and electrical energy, at which point they ceased transmitting telemetry. Based on optical observations made using a robotic telescope at the Warrumbungle Observatory, Dubbo, Australia and refinement of the orbit, a close re-encounter with Earth (originally predicted for 2073) is not possible.[68] In October 2020 the car made a close approach to Mars, about 8 million kilometres (5 million miles) away, at which distance Mars's gravity had no significant effect on the Roadster's orbit.[69]
The Virtual Telescope Project observed the Tesla two days after its launch, where it had a magnitude of 15.5,[70] comparable to Pluto's moon Charon. The Roadster was automatically spotted and logged by the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) telescope operated by the University of Hawaii.[71] The car was observed by the Deimos Sky Survey (DeSS) at a distance of 720,000 km (450,000 mi) with a flashing effect suggesting spinning.[72]
Through measuring changes in apparent brightness of the object, astronomers have determined that the Roadster is rotating with a period of 4.7589 ± 0.0060 minutes (i.e. 4 minutes, 46 seconds).[73] By February 11, 2018, astrometry measurements from 241 independent observations had been collated, refining the positions to within one-tenth of an arcsecond and published by the SeeSat-L mailing list, a group of amateur satellite spotters—more accurate than for most observations of objects in space.[74]
Future predictions
The roadster made its first close approach to Mars on October 7, 2020. The next close approach to Earth will be in the year 2047 at a distance of 5 million kilometers, about 13 times the distance between Earth and the Moon.[75] Simulations over a 3-million-year timespan found a probability of the Roadster colliding with Earth at approximately 6%, or with Venus at approximately 2.5%. These probabilities of collision are similar to those of other near-Earth objects. The half-life for the tested orbits was calculated as approximately 20 million years, but with trajectories varying significantly following a close approach to the Earth–Moon system in 2091.[76]
Musk had originally speculated that the car could drift in space for a billion years.[14] According to chemist William Carroll, solar radiation, cosmic radiation, and micrometeoroid impacts will structurally degrade the car over time. Radiation will eventually break down any material with carbon–carbon bonds, including carbon fiber parts. Tires, paint, plastic and leather might have lasted only about a year, while carbon fiber parts will last considerably longer. Eventually, only the aluminum frame, inert metals, and glass not shattered by meteoroids will remain.[77]
Potential follow up mission
In August 2019, as the Roadster completed its first orbit around the Sun,[78] Musk stated that SpaceX may one day launch a small spacecraft or Starship to catch up with the Roadster and take photographs or even return it to Earth for studying solar erosion on it just as Apollo 12 did with Surveyor 3 lander's components.[79]
See also
- List of artificial objects in heliocentric orbit
- List of passive satellites
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Miley, Jessica (February 9, 2018). "NASA Officially Lists Elon Musk's Floating Tesla Roadster As a Celestial Object". Interesting Engineering. https://interestingengineering.com/nasa-officially-lists-elon-musks-floating-tesla-roadster-as-a-celestial-object. JPL designated the artificial object as "Tesla Roadster (Starman, 2018-017A)"
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Ron Hammerton (February 7, 2018). "Sky is the limit for Elon Musk's Tesla Roadster in pioneering space shot". goauto.com.au. https://www.goauto.com.au/news/tesla/tesla-rockets-into-space/2018-02-07/69466.html.
- ↑ Kyle, Ed. "SpaceX Falcon Heavy Data Sheet". http://www.spacelaunchreport.com/falconH.html#components.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 "Tesla Roadster (spacecraft) (solution #10)". JPL Horizons On-Line Ephemeris System. 27 March 2018. https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/horizons_batch.cgi?batch=1&COMMAND=-143205&CENTER='500@10'&MAKE_EPHEM=YES&TABLE_TYPE=ELEMENTS&START_TIME=2018-05-01&STOP_TIME='2018-05-01+00:00:01'&OUT_UNITS=AU-D&REF_PLANE=ECLIPTIC&REF_SYSTEM=J2000&TP_TYPE=ABSOLUTE&ELEM_LABELS=YES&CSV_FORMAT=NO&OBJ_DATA=YES.
- ↑ LaMonica, Martin (September 21, 2009). "Tesla Motors founders: Now there are five". CNet. https://www.cnet.com/news/tesla-motors-founders-now-there-are-five/. "agreed-upon "founders" of Tesla. [...] Eberhard, [...] Elon Musk, [...] JB Straubel, Marc Tarpenning, and Ian Wright."
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Harwood, William (February 8, 2017). "'Starman' puts Earth in the rearview mirror". CBS News. https://spaceflightnow.com/2018/02/08/starman-puts-earth-in-the-rearview-mirror/.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Live Views of Starman. Archived from the original on February 7, 2018. Retrieved February 7, 2018 – via YouTube.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Mosher, Dave (March 13, 2018). "Elon Musk explains why he launched a car toward Mars — and the reasons are much bigger than his ego". Business Insider. https://www.businessinsider.com/why-elon-musk-launched-tesla-mars-falcon-heavy-2018-3.
- ↑ @elonmusk (2017-03-31). "Silliest thing we can imagine! Secret payload of 1st Dragon flight was a giant wheel of cheese. Inspired by a friend & Monty Python.". https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/847884351375372288.
- ↑ Arevalo, Evelyn Janeidy [@janeidyeve] (2017-06-15). "@elonmusk Please Let Twitter vote for #FalconHeavyCargo Let us imagine the silliest things possible! @arstechnica @TeslaMotors @spacex -RT&❤". https://twitter.com/janeidyeve/status/875509666742226944.
- ↑ Reagan, Mark (2018-02-07). "Brownsville woman, Musk interact on social media". The Brownsville Herald. https://brownsvilleherald.com/premium/brownsville-woman-musk-interact-on-social-media/article_ba93abf8-0ba9-11e8-bf75-37650ef1ea55.html?mode=jqm.
- ↑ Rodriguez, Marlane (2018-01-02). "Brownsville Woman Inspires SpaceX to Launch Car to Mars". https://www.kveo.com/news/local-news/brownsville-woman-inspires-spacex-to-launch-car-to-mars/894946361.
- ↑ @elonmusk (2017-07-02). "Suggestions welcome!". https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/881571150630756352.
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 @elonmusk (December 2, 2017). "Payload will be my midnight cherry Tesla Roadster playing Space Oddity. Destination is Mars orbit. Will be in deep space for a billion years or so if it doesn't blow up on ascent.". https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/936782477502246912.
- ↑ "Elon Musk says SpaceX will try to launch his Tesla Roadster on new heavy-lift rocket". https://spaceflightnow.com/2017/12/02/spacex-will-try-to-launch-elon-musks-tesla-roadster-on-new-heavy-lift-rocket/.
- ↑ Malik, Tariq (2017-12-01). "Elon Musk Will Launch His Tesla Roadster to Mars on SpaceX's 1st Falcon Heavy Rocket". https://www.space.com/38968-elon-musk-falcon-heavy-rocket-tesla-roadster.html.
- ↑ "Falcon Heavy's Debut Flight Payload: A Tesla Roadster". Aviation Week & Space Technology. 2017-12-06. http://aviationweek.com/space/falcon-heavy-s-debut-flight-payload-tesla-roadster.
- ↑ Mosher, Dave (February 9, 2018), Launching Elon Musk's car toward Mars was a backup plan — here's what SpaceX actually wanted to do with Falcon Heavy's first flight, http://www.businessinsider.com/starman-tesla-backup-payload-spacex-musk-nasa-2018-2, retrieved February 9, 2018
- ↑ "The First Car in Space". December 30, 2017. https://futurism.com/experts-elon-musk-roadster/.
- ↑ Knapp, Alex (December 22, 2017). "Elon Musk Shows Off Photos of a Tesla Roadster Getting Prepped to Go to Mars". Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexknapp/2017/12/22/elon-musk-shows-off-photos-of-tesla-roadster-prepped-to-go-to-mars/.
- ↑ Elon Musk Unveils 'Starman' in Tesla Roadster Launching on SpaceX's Falcon Heavy Rocket . Hanneke Weitering, Space.com. February 5, 2018.
- ↑ Joe Pappalardo (February 5, 2018). "Elon Musk's Space Tesla Isn't Going to Mars. It's Going Somewhere More Important.". Popular Mechanics. https://www.popularmechanics.com/space/moon-mars/a16571489/elon-musk-space-tesla-mars/. Retrieved February 6, 2018.
- ↑ "SpaceX Successfully Launches the Falcon Heavy – and Elon Musk's Roadster". WIRED. 2018-02-06. https://www.wired.com/story/spacex-successfully-launches-the-falcon-heavyand-elon-musks-roadster/. Retrieved February 7, 2018.
- ↑
- @tiamaria68uk (December 8, 2017). "Will the glove box contain "The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy"?". https://twitter.com/tiamaria68uk/status/938930620511801345.
- @elonmusk (December 8, 2017). "Yes". https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/938947119246860290.
- Elon Musk [@elonmusk] (December 8, 2017). "Plus a towel and a sign saying 'Don't Panic'". https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/939005893634506752.
- ↑ Musk, Elon. "Printed on the circuit board of a car in deep space". https://www.instagram.com/p/Be31IJxgOoK/.
- ↑ Chris Taylor (February 9, 2018). "Forget the Tesla, Elon Musk launched the first books in an ever-lasting space library". Mashable. https://mashable.com/2018/02/09/elon-musk-tesla-roadster-space-library/.
- ↑ Eric Olson (February 14, 2018). "Backing Up Humanity: First Arch Launched on Falcon Heavy". IEEE GlobalSpec. https://insights.globalspec.com/article/7975/backing-up-humanity-first-arch-launched-on-falcon-heavy.
- ↑ 28.0 28.1 Wong, Kenneth (February 2, 2018). "License Number: LLS 18-107". Office of Commercial Space Transportation. http://images.spaceref.com/news/2018/LLS18107doc.pdf. "Space Exploration Technologies is authorized to conduct: (i) a flight of the Falcon Heavy launch vehicle from Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center (KSC) transporting the modified Tesla Roadster (mass simulator) to a hyperbolic orbit; and […]"
- ↑ Brinkmann & Santana. "SpaceX Falcon Heavy launch live coverage: Liftoff successful". Orlando Sentinel. http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/space/os-bz-falcon-heavy-spacex-launch-tuesday-20180206-story.html.
- ↑ Gebhardt, Chris (February 6, 2018). "SpaceX set to debut Falcon Heavy in demonstration launch from KSC". NASASpaceFlight.com. https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2018/02/spacex-debut-falcon-heavy-demonstration-launch/.
- ↑ Berger, Eric (February 6, 2018). "Elon Musk says the Falcon Heavy has a 50-50 chance of success". https://arstechnica.com/science/2018/02/at-the-pad-elon-musk-sizes-up-the-falcon-heavys-chance-of-success/.
- ↑ Boyle, Alan (February 6, 2018). "Elon Musk explains why SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket is risky – and revolutionary". GeekWire. https://www.geekwire.com/2018/elon-musk-explains-spacexs-falcon-heavy-rocket-risky-revolutionary/.
- ↑ Foust, Jeff [@jeff_foust] (February 5, 2018). "Musk: will be three cameras mounted on the Roadster, should provide "epic views" if all goes well." (in en). https://twitter.com/jeff_foust/status/960632250500042752.
- ↑ McDowell, Jonathan [@planet4589] (February 8, 2018). "I now have confirmation that the Tesla remains attached to the Falcon 2nd stage, which is being observed by asteroid experts". https://twitter.com/planet4589/status/961675763450830849.
- ↑ Weitering, Hanneke (February 6, 2018). "Watch Live Views of SpaceX's Starman Riding a Tesla Roadster in Space!". https://www.space.com/39612-spacex-starman-tesla-roadster-live-views.html.
- ↑ "This is what a Tesla Roadster looks like floating through space". CNBC. February 6, 2018. https://www.cnbc.com/2018/02/06/this-is-what-a-tesla-roadster-looks-like-floating-through-space.html.
- ↑ Michael Zhang (February 8, 2018). "This is the Last Photo of the Tesla That's Flying Away From Earth". PetaPixel. https://petapixel.com/2018/02/08/last-photo-tesla-thats-flying-away-earth/. "The photo was shared by billionaire Elon Musk on Instagram and SpaceX on Flickr. As you might remember, SpaceX began publishing all of its Flickr photos to the public domain in March 2015, leading Flickr to add a public domain designation just days later."
- ↑ Brown, Molly (March 23, 2015). "Elon Musk makes SpaceX photos free for public use". GeekWire. https://www.geekwire.com/2015/elon-musk-makes-spacex-photos-free-for-public-use/.
- ↑ "TESLA ROADSTER/FALCON 9H". https://www.n2yo.com/satellite/?s=43205.
- ↑ 40.0 40.1 Plait, Phil (2017-12-02). "Elon Musk: On the Roadster to Mars". http://www.syfy.com/syfywire/elon-musk-on-the-roadster-to-mars.
- ↑ Nag, Poulami (2018-11-04). "SpaceX Starman reaches beyond Mars in his cherry red Tesla Roadster". IB Times. https://www.ibtimes.co.in/spacex-starman-reaches-beyond-mars-his-cherry-red-tesla-roadster-784728.
- ↑ Frieger, Greg (2018). "Elon Musk's Tesla Roadster in Space – Live Position". https://where-is-tesla-roadster.space/live. Select "Aug 15, 2019 Closest to the Sun (perihelion)" in the "Past and future events" section to view the predicted speed at that time.
- ↑ Bayle, Alfred (7 February 2018). "Tesla Roadster in space becomes internet's new favorite meme". Philippine Daily Inquirer. http://technology.inquirer.net/72268/tesla-roadster-in-space-becomes-internets-new-favorite-meme.
- ↑ Ilona (7 February 2018). "47 Of The Funniest Reactions To Elon Musk Sending Tesla Car To Mars". https://www.boredpanda.com/elon-musk-tesla-in-space-reactions/.
- ↑ "Hilarisch: Australische politie slingert ruimte-Tesla op de bon vanwege hoge snelheid" (in nl). RTL Nieuws. 7 February 2018. https://www.rtlnieuws.nl/opmerkelijk/hilarisch-australische-politie-slingert-ruimte-tesla-op-de-bon-vanwege-hoge-snelheid.
- ↑ Western Australia Police [@WA_Police] (7 February 2018). "Ticket's in the post mate... 😉 #AnywhereAnytime #WAPoliceForce #FalconHeavy". https://twitter.com/WA_Police/status/961057061042704384.
- ↑ Padeanu, Adrian (February 14, 2018). "Skoda Releases Video Proof Of Sending Superb To Mars" (in en). Motor1.com. https://www.motor1.com/news/233075/skoda-superb-goes-to-mars/.
- ↑ Škoda France (14 February 2018). #MissionToMars (in English and français). Archived from the original on January 24, 2021. Retrieved 15 February 2018 – via Youtube.
- ↑ Patel, Joel V. (27 February 2018). "Launching A Tesla Model X Toy Car Into Space Is Insanely Difficult, Incredibly Hilarious". Carscoops. https://www.carscoops.com/2018/02/launching-tesla-model-x-toy-car-space-insanely-difficult-incredibly-hilarious/.
- ↑ Donut Media (25 February 2018). We Tried to Launch a Tesla to Space Too. Archived from the original on November 10, 2020. Retrieved 27 February 2018 – via Youtube.
- ↑ "Russians send Soviet car model into stratosphere". BBC News. 12 June 2019. https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-news-from-elsewhere-48615344.
- ↑ Cross, Alan (2018-02-07). "A Canadian-American predicted what Elon Musk's rocket roadster did yesterday—in 1981!". CFNY-FM. https://edge.ca/news/4011097/a-canadian-american-predicted-what-elon-musks-rocket-roadster-did-yesterday-in-1981/. "picture is not fake [...] photo is from space [...] resemblance to the opening sequence of a Canadian-American adult animated movie from 1981 called Heavy Metal"
- ↑ DeBord, Matthew (2018-02-10). "The Falcon Heavy Roadster Launch reveals how Tesla and SpaceX are already beginning to merge". http://uk.businessinsider.com/how-tesla-and-spacex-have-already-merged-2018-2. "Roadster orbiting Earth [...] like something out of the [...] opening sequence from the 1981 grownup animated movie "Heavy Metal""
- ↑ Singleton, Micah (6 February 2018). "SpaceX's Falcon Heavy launch was YouTube's second biggest live stream ever" (in en). The Verge. https://www.theverge.com/2018/2/6/16981730/spacex-falcon-heavy-launch-youtube-live-stream-record.
- ↑ 55.0 55.1 Billings, Lee (February 6, 2018), "Elon Musk Does It Again; His Falcon Heavy rocket lifts off on the first try, puts a Tesla auto into orbit—and maybe changes the business of space commerce and exploration forever", Scientific American, https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/elon-musk-does-it-again/
- ↑ 56.0 56.1 Wnek, Mark (February 8, 2018), "There's Advertising and Marketing, and Then There's Elon Musk", Advertising Age, http://adage.com/article/special-report-super-bowl/advertising-marketing-elon-musk/312307/, retrieved February 12, 2018
- ↑ 57.0 57.1 Matousek, Mark (February 7, 2018), Tesla created the world's best car commercial without spending a dime on advertising, http://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-made-the-worlds-best-car-commercial-without-spending-money-2018-2, retrieved February 12, 2018
- ↑ "The mega-rich have ambitious plans to improve the world; Should that be a cause for celebration or concern?", The Economist, February 8, 2018, https://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21736517-should-be-cause-celebration-or-concern-mega-rich-have-ambitious-plans-improve, retrieved February 12, 2018
- ↑ Hern, Alex (February 7, 2018), "Forget the car in space: why Elon Musk's reusable rockets are more than a publicity stunt; The onboard Tesla Roadster grabbed the headlines, but the real success of this week's space adventure was the Falcon Heavy launch vehicle", The Guardian, https://www.theguardian.com/science/shortcuts/2018/feb/07/forget-the-car-in-space-why-elon-musks-reusable-rockets-are-more-than-a-publicity-stunt
- ↑ Richards, Alexandra (2018-02-09). "Elon Musk's SpaceX Falcon Heavy launch was just a gimmick, says former NASA boss Lori Garver". Evening Standard. https://www.standard.co.uk/news/world/spacex-falcon-heavy-launch-nothing-more-than-a-gimmick-says-former-nasa-deputy-administrator-lori-a3762376.html.
- ↑ Chayka, Kyle (February 10, 2018). "Elon Musk made history launching a car into space. Did he make art too?". https://www.theverge.com/2018/2/10/16997124/elon-musk-spacex-tesla-art-starman-advertising. "a staggering image [...] and so impressive that the video seems somehow unreal. It's the greatest car ad of all time. [...] In 1917, Marcel Duchamp put a urinal on a pedestal, titled it Fountain [...] and called it art. [...] a readymade, his word for a combination of everyday objects reassembled or re-contextualized by an artist."
- ↑ Tesla Roadster gets Interplanetary ID . Leonard David. Space. 9 February 2018.
- ↑ 63.0 63.1 Gorman, Alice; Flinders University (2018-02-07). "A sports car and a glitter ball are now in space – what does that say about us as humans?". The Conversation. http://theconversation.com/a-sports-car-and-a-glitter-ball-are-now-in-space-what-does-that-say-about-us-as-humans-91156.
- ↑ Is the Tesla Roadster Flying on the Falcon Heavy's Maiden Flight Just Space Junk? . Leonard David, Space, 5 February 2018.
- ↑ Kaufman, Mark (February 8, 2018). "Elon Musk's 'Starman' Tesla Roadster isn't your typical piece of space junk". https://mashable.com/2018/02/08/elon-musk-tesla-roadster-not-typical-space-junk/.
- ↑ Let's talk about Elon Musk launching his Tesla into space . Jason Davis, The Planetary Society. 5 February 2018.
- ↑ David Szondy (February 27, 2018). "Tesla in space could carry bacteria from Earth". Purdue University. https://www.purdue.edu/newsroom/releases/2018/Q1/tesla-in-space-could-carry-bacteria-from-earth.html.
- ↑ Langbroek, Marco; Starr, Peter (9 February 2018). "Starman (Falcon Heavy/Tesla Roadster) 2018-017A imaged in Space". https://sattrackcam.blogspot.co.uk/2018/02/starman-falcon-heavytesla-roadster-2018.html. "images were taken, 16:39-16:50 UT on 8 February 2018 [...] distance of 550 000 km or about 1.4 Lunar distances c.q. 0.0037 AU [...] 30-second exposures taken by Peter Starr and me with the 0.43-m F6.8 remote robotic telescope of Dubbo Observatory in Australia [...] 2073 close encounter [...] is no longer on the table."
- ↑ Kim, Allen (October 8, 2020). "SpaceX's Tesla roadster made its first close approach with Mars". CNN. https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/08/cars/spacex-tesla-mars-starman-scn-trnd/index.html.
- ↑ Masi, Gianluca (2018-02-08). "Elon Musk's Tesla Roadster imaged and filmed!". https://www.virtualtelescope.eu/2018/02/08/elon-musks-tesla-roadster-imaged-8-feb-2018/.
- ↑ Denneau, Larry (8 February 2018). "UH ATLAS telescope spots SpaceX Tesla Roadster in flight" (Press release). Archived from the original on February 11, 2018. Retrieved 11 February 2018.
ATLAS was not looking for the Roadster—it was found during routine observations and automatically identified as a near-Earth object.
- ↑ "New images of SpaceX's Starman Tesla". Elecnor Deimos. 2018-02-09. http://www.elecnor-deimos.com/images-spacex-starman-tesla-deimos-sky-survey. "captured the vehicle at a distance of 720.000 km from Earth ... show a flickering effect that suggests that the Tesla Roadster is spinning fast."
- ↑ "Here's Exactly How Fast Elon Musk's Tesla Is Spinning In Space". February 13, 2018. https://www.popularmechanics.com/space/satellites/a17762760/heres-exactly-how-fast-elon-musks-tesla-is-spinning-in-space/.
- ↑ Gray, Bill (2018-02-11). "Re: Tesla roadster and booster observations". http://www.satobs.org/seesat/Feb-2018/0117.html. "list of 241 observations and growing [...] continue to be observed for about two weeks. [...] know the position of this object to better than a tenth of an arcsecond, [...] Almost nobody is getting data that accurate."
- ↑ "SpaceX’s Tesla roadster made its first close approach with Mars". https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/08/cars/spacex-tesla-mars-starman-scn-trnd/index.html.
- ↑ Rein, Hanno; Tamayo, Daniel; Vokrouhlicky, David (13 February 2018). "The random walk of cars and their collision probabilities with planets". Aerospace 5 (2): 57. doi:10.3390/aerospace5020057. Bibcode: 2018Aeros...5...57R.
- ↑ Lezter, Rafi (February 6, 2018). "Radiation Will Tear Elon Musk's Rocket Car to Bits in a Year". https://www.livescience.com/61680-will-spacex-roadster-survive-in-space.html.
- ↑ Mike Wall (August 20, 2019). "SpaceX's Starman and Elon Musk's Tesla Have Made a Lap Around the Sun". space.com. https://www.space.com/spacex-starman-tesla-falcon-heavy-first-orbit-sun.html.
- ↑ Mike Brown (August 19, 2019). "Where Is Starman? Elon Musk Teases SpaceX Mission to Catch Up With Roadster". inverse.com. https://www.inverse.com/article/58602-where-is-starman-elon-musk-teases-spacex-mission-to-catch-up-with-roadster.
External links
- "Live Views of Starman (4:13:10)". SpaceX. Feb 6, 2018. https://youtube.com/watch?v=aBr2kKAHN6M.
- Langbroek, Marco et al. (Feb 9, 2018), 0.43-m F6.8 Planewave telescope, Dubbo, AU, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Animated_GIF_of_telescopic_im,ages_showing_Falcon_Heavy_stage,_Tesla_Roadster,_Starman_moving_through_space.gif, "Loop of 4 frames of Roadster moving across the sky"
- Andreo, Rogelio Bernal (Feb 11, 2018). "Starman cruising through space (00:12)". https://youtube.com/watch?v=m4r54ODsOM0.
- Rein, Hanno et al. (Feb 13, 2018). "Random walk of cars and their collision probabilities with planets". Aerospace 5 (2): 57. doi:10.3390/aerospace5020057. Bibcode: 2018Aeros...5...57R.
Real-time
Trajectory animation, past and future events, orbital elements.
- Frieger, Greg (Mar 27, 2018). "Where in Space is Tesla Roadster". https://where-is-tesla-roadster.space/live.
- Pearson, Ben (Feb 7, 2018). "Where is Starman? Track Elon Musk's Tesla Roadster in Space!". https://whereisroadster.com.
Original source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elon Musk's Tesla Roadster.
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