Telsa Roadster in Space

Wonder if there will be Superchargers on Mars soon?

https://youtu.be/aBr2kKAHN6M

Absolutely spectacular SpaceX Falcon Heavy launch, perfect (simultaneous!) booster landings too.

https://youtu.be/wbSwFU6tY1c?t=1784

https://youtu.be/wbSwFU6tY1c?t=2261

Just waiting to see how well the core landing on the drone ship went...

Another Musk failure clearly.

EVDRIVER said:

Another Musk failure clearly.

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completely overshot Mars on the third stage.

Demolition Derby in the asteroid belt?

Demolition derby at sea!

Apparently, the center core struck the droneship at about 300mph, taking out two of the ship's engines. I hope they can recover some camera footage - it sounds spectacular!

Look at those panel gaps! Where's the QC?!

I hear all the Falcon 9s are being built by hand! That's why they can't deliver more than a few each year.

One again, a Musk company completely misses it's target.

Typical Musk: 4 years late.

jlv said:

Look at those panel gaps! Where's the QC?!

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That was funny.

To be clear is this car still attached tot he upper unit and will it stay attached, or is it literally just shot off by itself? A youtube video I saw from spacex seemed to say the car has been sent off by itself and is no longer attached but if that is the case wouldn't it lack the long term power supply needed to transmit video back and all that jazz?

I think it is still attached, right?

InsideEVs has an article about this: There's Reasons SpaceX CEO Elon Musk Sent A Tesla Roadster Into Orbit:

InsideEVs said:

But why? Korens acknowledges, “The decision to make the payload a Tesla was a clever show of cross-promotional marketing that only someone like Musk is capable of. Some have groaned at the idea, describing it as nothing more than a cheesy publicity stunt for Tesla… and yes, the placement of a Tesla on top of a brand-new 230-foot-tall rocket with 27 engines, three times more than Musk’s flight-proven and reliable fleet of Falcon 9s, certainly helps with publicity.”

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Also raises the bar to Tesla having the fastest production car in history.

EatsShootsandLeafs said:

To be clear is this car still attached tot he upper unit and will it stay attached, or is it literally just shot off by itself?

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I might be wrong, but I think it was to stay attached for the 6 hour coast until the transfer orbit injection burn, after which it would detach from the cradle and 2nd stage.

In the press conference last night Musk said something to the effect that the "batteries should last 10 hours" after which there would be no more video sent. I assume he meant the batteries powering the camera and transmitters, as I believe the car's battery was removed prior to launch.

jlv said:

EatsShootsandLeafs said:

I assume he meant the batteries powering the camera and transmitters, as I believe the car's battery was removed prior to launch.

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Obviously, why add another 1K+ of additional weight and have a huge fireball when the Starman re-enters, as the Li battery burns.

lorenfb said:

Obviously, why add another 1K+ of additional weight and have a huge fireball when the Starman re-enters, as the Li battery burns.

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Re-enters? This thing is going into orbit around the Sun with the perigee at Earth distance and the apogee at Mars distance.

RegGuheert said:

lorenfb said:

Obviously, why add another 1K+ of additional weight and have a huge fireball when the Starman re-enters, as the Li battery burns.

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Re-enters? This thing is going into orbit around the Sun with the perigee at Earth distance and the apogee at Mars distance.

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You forgot the sky is always falling on MNL so everything in tow comes along.

RegGuheert said:

lorenfb said:

Obviously, why add another 1K+ of additional weight and have a huge fireball when the Starman re-enters, as the Li battery burns.

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Re-enters? This thing is going into orbit around the Sun with the perigee at Earth distance and the apogee at Mars distance.

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We'll see, i.e. what the "orbit" length turns out to be.

lorenfb said:

RegGuheert said:

lorenfb said:

Obviously, why add another 1K+ of additional weight and have a huge fireball when the Starman re-enters, as the Li battery burns.

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Re-enters? This thing is going into orbit around the Sun with the perigee at Earth distance and the apogee at Mars distance.

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We'll see, i.e. what the "orbit" length turns out to be.

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:?: :?:

Not up on orbital dynamics? It is ALREADY in orbit around the Sun with the orbital characteristics that I mentioned.

It is not going to "re-enter" anything. It will orbit the sun LONG after all of us here are gone.

EVDRIVER was correct: "The sky is falling!" for some around here.

lorenfb said:

We'll see, i.e. what the "orbit" length turns out to be.

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We all suspected it, but now we know. lorenfb is shorting the Tesla's orbit.

RegGuheert said:

lorenfb said:

RegGuheert said:

Re-enters? This thing is going into orbit around the Sun with the perigee at Earth distance and the apogee at Mars distance.

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We'll see, i.e. what the "orbit" length turns out to be.

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:?: :?:

Not up on orbital dynamics? It is ALREADY in orbit around the Sun with the orbital characteristics that I mentioned.

It is not going to "re-enter" anything. It will orbit the sun LONG after all of us here are gone.

EVDRIVER was correct: "The sky is falling!" for some around here.

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Sorry the "intended orbit" failed, i.e. "Lost in Space". Elon stopped tweeting about it. Without any on-board telemetry,
who really knows its actual present and future locations. Anyone ready for Elon's trip to Mars? What a joke on Elon?
Tesla should've auctioned the Roadster, i.e. at least Elon could have given some SpaceX employees a small raise.

Laughable!

lorenfb said:

Sorry the "intended orbit" failed, i.e. "Lost in Space". Elon stopped tweeting about it. Without any on-board telemetry,
who really knows its actual present and future locations.

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People with a good enough telescope. Or people that know how to find catalogs of such things. For the next few years, say 10,000 or so, you could just start with the current orbital elements and calculate orbits. Jupiter's gravity will cause some minor changes to the orbit.


The Tesla Roadstar is now in orbit around the sun. This photo of it was taken two days after launch on Feb. 8. Like most man-made objects at a distance in outer space, it looks like a faint star. Gianluca Masi / Michael Schwartz / Virtual Telescope and Tenagra Observatory

I messed up this link, but please change to match your location. Then click Generate Ephemeris.

https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/horizons.cgi?CGISESSID=c3cbd47fbf603007d1b627107c28962f

However, there is an oversight in the description. The towel isn't listed. Don't panic.