Where is Elon Musk's Tesla Roadster He Sent Into Space Four Years Ago?
08:27 GMT 09.02.2022 (Updated: 17:11 GMT 20.06.2023)
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The tech maverick previously said it is unlikely that humanity will learn about the end destination of the vehicle, but expressed hope that future generations, whom Musk expects to colonise the Moon and Mars, will be able to find the car and place it in a space-themed museum.
It has been four years and three days since Elon Musk's Space X successfully launched a Falcon Heavy rocket into space with a Tesla Roadster sports car attached to the rocket's second stage.
The electric vehicle, which was one owned by the maverick himself and has a spaceman dummy inside called Starman, became the first car launched into space and the first to orbit the Sun. So, where is it now?
According to the website whereisroadster.com, which offers live updates on Starman's whereabouts, the vehicle is continuing its space journey across the solar system and judging by the data its voyage has been quite thrilling. The roadster has completed about 2.6 orbits around the Sun. It is now about 234 million miles away from Earth, moving away at a speed of 3,566 miles per hours (5,740 kmph).
Space experts struggle to say where the vehicle is heading because of its irregular orbit. In 2020, Starman came close to outrunning space powers like Russia and the United States, to become the first "human" to land on Mars as the vehicle made its first approach to the Red Planet within 0.05 astronomical units or under 5 million miles from Mars.
Musk himself previously said that is highly unlikely that we'll ever learn the end destination of the vehicle, but there is a chance that we may see it again, although that rendezvous could be quite dramatic.
According to the website whereisroadster.com, which offers live updates on Starman's whereabouts, the vehicle is continuing its space journey across the solar system and judging by the data its voyage has been quite thrilling. The roadster has completed about 2.6 orbits around the Sun. It is now about 234 million miles away from Earth, moving away at a speed of 3,566 miles per hours (5,740 kmph).
Space experts struggle to say where the vehicle is heading because of its irregular orbit. In 2020, Starman came close to outrunning space powers like Russia and the United States, to become the first "human" to land on Mars as the vehicle made its first approach to the Red Planet within 0.05 astronomical units or under 5 million miles from Mars.
Musk himself previously said that is highly unlikely that we'll ever learn the end destination of the vehicle, but there is a chance that we may see it again, although that rendezvous could be quite dramatic.
When the tech maverick and his space company first announced the plan to send a Tesla into space many scientists criticised the idea pointing to the problem of space debris, which pose a significant threat to the International Space Station and space missions.
A group of US scientists calculated that within the next 15 million years there is a 22 percent chance that the vehicle will crash into Earth and a 12 percent chance that it will crash into Venus or the Sun. Experts point out that if the car does "return" to Earth it will not cause any trouble as it will burn up in the Earth's atmosphere.
A group of US scientists calculated that within the next 15 million years there is a 22 percent chance that the vehicle will crash into Earth and a 12 percent chance that it will crash into Venus or the Sun. Experts point out that if the car does "return" to Earth it will not cause any trouble as it will burn up in the Earth's atmosphere.
