Published 22:12 IST, August 19th 2019
Elon Musk's 'Starman' completes a lap around the Sun in Tesla Roadster, space fans blare klaxons
Elon Musk's Starman - the dummy aboard the Tesla Roadster which was launched as a dummy payload on SpaceX's reusable Falcon Heavy rocket into space on February 2018, has completed a full revolution around the Sun on Monday. The floating Roadster took exactly 1 year, 6 months, 12 days to complete this feat, according to a science news website.
Elon Musk's Starman - the dummy aboard the Tesla Roadster which was launched as a dummy payload on SpaceX's reusable Falcon Heavy rocket into space on February 2018, has completed a full revolution around the Sun on Monday. The floating Roadster took exactly 1 year, 6 months, 12 days to complete this feat, according to a science news website.
Here's Tesla proudly announcing it:
The Roadster's journey
Dedicated to tracking the Tesla Roadster around our solar system - 'Where is the Roadster?' states that the car which has a 36,000 miles warranty while it has been 'driving around the Sun' covering 1,229,228,986 km, moving at a speed of 33.59 km/s. As of Monday, the car has exceeded its warranty 21,217 times!
Interestingly the website also states that Starman has listened to the song 'Space Oddity' 151,756 times since he launched in one ear, and to the song 'Is there Life On Mars?' 204,485 times in his other ear, if the car battery of the Roadster is still functioning.
Starman's space launch
On February 7, 2018, on the Falcon Heavy's maiden space flight, playing a practical joke the eccentric genius SpaceX CEO Elon Musk chose to attach his own Tesla Roadster built in 2009, as a dummy payload. On the payload adapter is a plaque with the names of 6000 SpaceX employees.
Taking his prank further, a SpaceX Spacesuit called "Starman" was placed into the driver's seat. A HotWheels toy-model of the Roadster with a miniature Starman inside too is in the car and a storage device containing Isaac Asimov's "Foundation" novels.
Additionally, the car also carries a copy of Douglas Adam's "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" in the glovebox, along with a towel and a sign saying "Don't Panic". Apart from this odd accompaniments, Starman is listening to 'Space Oddity' and ''Is there Life On Mars?' through the car's sound system.
Space fans salute Starman:
Updated 22:30 IST, August 19th 2019