Elon Musk’s Red Tesla Roadster: Launched Into Space 6 Years Ago, Where Is It Now?

Elon Musk’s cherry red 2008 Tesla Roadster, a unique cargo, was launched on February 6, 2018, marking the first-ever Falcon Heavy rocket flight by SpaceX. 

The car, accompanied by a spacesuit-clad dummy named Starman, aimed to demonstrate the rocket’s capability to carry heavy payloads for deep space missions and inspire public interest in space exploration.

Since the moment it was launched into space, monitoring the trajectory of the Roadster as it traverses the cosmos has evolved into an annual intrigue and source of captivation.

Currently, it is approximately 65,268,000 miles from Earth, moving towards us at a speed of 4,416 miles per hour, while also orbiting the Sun irregularly every 557 days. Despite its stable orbit expected to last several million years, the vehicle will likely succumb to solar and 

cosmic radiation over time.

Although the car hasn’t been observed since March 2018, SpaceX estimates indicate that it completed its first solar orbit in August 2019 and made its first close approach to Mars in October 2020. The next predicted close approach to Earth is anticipated in 2047 at a distance of 5 million kilometers.

Musk’s Ambitious Hint

Despite the fascinating journey, there’s speculation about the Roadster’s eventual fate. Astrophysicist Hanno Rein suggests a 22 percent chance of collision with Earth within the next 15 million years, while there’s a 12 percent chance of crashing into Venus or the Sun.

Initially planned to be positioned in a heliocentric orbit in close proximity to Mars, the trajectory of the Roadster was constrained by the lack of maneuvering apparatus. This limitation impeded the vehicle’s ability to achieve its intended orbit around Mars within the solar system.

Nonetheless, Elon Musk suggested the potential for launching a spacecraft with the aim of reaching the Roadster, either for scientific investigation or with the ambitious objective of retrieving it and returning it to Earth.

Accompanied by David Bowie’s Space Oddity and Life On Mars? playing in an endless loop, the journey of Musk’s Roadster remains a testament to human ingenuity and the boundless possibilities of space exploration.