Elon Musks Tesla Roadster In Space

Why was the Tesla Roadster picked to go to space?

In March 2017, Elon Musk, the founder of SpaceX, announced that the upcoming launch of the new Falcon Heavy vehicle would carry the "silliest thing we can imagine" due to the risky nature of the mission. In June 2017, one of Musk's Twitter followers suggested that a Tesla Model S would be a fitting choice for the payload, to which Musk replied "Suggestions welcome!" This sparked widespread speculation and anticipation. In December 2017, Musk revealed that the payload for the Falcon Heavy test flight would be his personal "midnight cherry Tesla Roadster".

One of the objectives of the test flight was to demonstrate the capability of the Falcon Heavy to carry a payload as far as the orbit of Mars. Despite NASA declining SpaceX's offer to carry any payload of their choice, the Tesla Roadster was chosen as a backup option for this historic mission.



The Tesla Roadster sent into space is the first standard roadworthy vehicle to be launched beyond Earth's atmosphere, marking a significant milestone in space exploration. Previous missions had involved special-purpose lunar and Mars rovers, but the Roadster was a unique addition to the growing list of objects sent into space.

A Marketing Opportunity

Musk was widely praised for his visionary marketing and brand management skills, as he carefully controlled the timing and content of his corporate public relations efforts. Many lauded his strategic use of the Tesla Roadster as the payload for the Falcon Heavy test flight. Scientific American noted that while using a car may not have been entirely necessary for the test, it was thematically fitting and served as a reminder of Musk's disruptive approach not only in space, but also in the auto industry. Advertising Age concurred, calling the Roadster space launch the "greatest ever car commercial without a dime spent on advertising", and highlighting Musk's ability to connect with young consumers in a way that surpasses traditional advertising methods.

However, there were some critics, including Lori Garver, a former NASA deputy director, who initially dismissed the choice of the Roadster as a gimmick and missed opportunity for scientific advancement. However, Garver later clarified that SpaceX had offered free launches to NASA and the Air Force, but received no takers. Musk responded to the critics by explaining that his intention was to inspire the public about the possibilities of new developments in space, aligning with his larger vision of spreading humanity to other planets.

Overall, opinions were mixed regarding the choice of the Roadster as the Falcon Heavy's payload, with some seeing it as a creative marketing move and others raising concerns about its scientific significance. Nonetheless, Musk's ability to generate buzz and capture public attention with his unconventional approach to space exploration and brand promotion was widely acknowledged.



A work of art

The Verge drew a comparison between the Roadster and a "ready-made" work of art, similar to Marcel Duchamp's iconic 1917 piece Fountain, which involved placing an everyday object in an unconventional position, context, and orientation, thereby transforming its meaning and symbolism.

According to Alice Gorman, a lecturer in archaeology and space studies at Flinders University in Australia, the Roadster serves as a powerful symbol of masculinity, representing notions of power, wealth, and speed. However, Gorman also argues that the Roadster's symbolism goes beyond surface-level interpretations, delving into deeper anthropological theories of symbols. She suggests that the car also serves as an armour against the fear of mortality, a talisman that quells the profound existential anxiety associated with our own mortality. Gorman further asserts that the spacesuit worn by the mannequin, dubbed "Starman," also carries symbolic significance, representing death and the haunting presence of mortality in the vast expanse of space.



In essence, the Roadster's placement in space and its accompanying symbolism evoke multifaceted interpretations, ranging from artistic expression to existential contemplation, offering a thought-provoking subject for discussion and analysis.

Critics and challenges with the launch

Space debris

According to orbital debris expert Darren McKnight, the Roadster does not pose any significant risk as it is far from Earth's orbit. McKnight further stated that the enthusiasm and interest generated by Musk's venture outweighs any potential concerns of adding to space debris, which he considers to be infinitesimally small in scale.

Tommy Sanford, director of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation, also supported this perspective, stating that the Roadster and its accompanying rocket stage are no different from other mundane materials typically launched on test flights. In fact, mass simulators, such as the Roadster, are often deliberately placed in a designated orbit or sent on a deep space trajectory, where they do not pose any hazards and are not considered as "space junk".



In summary, experts in the field assert that the Roadster's presence in space does not pose a significant risk and that the potential benefits, including generating public interest and enthusiasm, outweigh any minimal concerns of adding to space debris.

Biological Contamination

The Planetary Society expressed concern over the potential risk of biological contamination of a foreign world by launching a non-sterile object into interplanetary space. Scientists at Purdue University acknowledged that while the vehicle would be sterilized by solar radiation over time, there is a possibility that the vehicle could eventually hit Earth in the future. In such an event, some bacteria might survive on certain components of the vehicle, which could potentially contaminate Mars if it were to hit Mars instead in the distant future.

Simulations conducted over a 3-million-year timespan revealed that there is a probability of approximately 6% for the Roadster to collide with Earth and approximately 2.5% for it to collide with Venus. These collision probabilities are similar to those of other near-Earth objects, and the half-life for the tested orbits was estimated to be around 20 million years, although trajectories could vary significantly after a close approach to the Earth-Moon system in 2091.

Initially, Musk had speculated that the car could drift in space for a billion years. However, according to chemist William Carroll, the car will likely undergo structural damage over time due to solar radiation, cosmic radiation, and micrometeoroid impacts. Materials with carbon-carbon bonds, including carbon fibre parts, will eventually break down due to radiation. Other components such as tires, paint, plastic, and leather may last only about a year, while carbon fibre parts are expected to last longer. Ultimately, only the aluminium frame, inert metals, and glass that have not been shattered by meteoroids are expected to remain.

Using the roadster as the payload

The car was affixed to the rocket in an inclined position above the payload adapter, with additional tubular structures added to mount front and side cameras. Prior to payload encapsulation, photos of the car were released.

Inside the car, positioned in the driver's seat, was a full-scale human mannequin dubbed "Starman", dressed in a SpaceX pressure spacesuit. The mannequin was arranged with the right hand on the steering wheel and the left elbow resting on the open window sill. It was named after David Bowie's song "Starman", and the car's sound system was set to continuously loop Bowie's song "Space Oddity" before launch.

In the car's glovebox, there is a copy of Douglas Adams' novel "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy", along with references to the book in the form of a towel and a sign on the dashboard that reads "DON'T PANIC!". A Hot Wheels miniature Roadster with a miniature Starman is mounted on the dashboard, and a plaque with the names of the project's employees is placed underneath the car. Additionally, a message on the vehicle's circuit board reads "Made on Earth by humans". The car also carries a copy of Isaac Asimov's Foundation trilogy on a 5D optical disc, which serves as a proof of concept for high-density long-lasting data storage, donated to Musk by the Arch Mission Foundation.

The trajectory and orbit of the mission

On February 2, 2018, the US Office of Commercial Space Transportation issued the launch license for the test flight. The rocket took off from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center on February 6 at 15:45 EST (20:45 UTC). The upper stage, which carried the car, was initially placed in an Earth parking orbit and spent six hours coasting through the Van Allen radiation belts, showcasing a new capability requested by the U.S. Air Force for direct insertion of heavy intelligence satellites into geostationary orbit. Afterwards, the upper stage performed a second boost to reach the desired escape trajectory.

The launch was live-streamed, and video feeds from space showed the Roadster from various angles with Earth in the background, captured by cameras placed inside and outside the car on booms attached to the vehicle's custom adaptor atop the upper stage. Although Elon Musk had estimated that the car's battery would last over 12 hours, the live stream ran for just over four hours, ending before the final boost out of Earth orbit. The images were released by SpaceX into the public domain on their Flickr account.

After the launch, the rocket stage carrying the car was designated as "TESLA ROADSTER/FALCON 9H" with the Satellite Catalogue Number 43205, and the COSPAR designation 2018-017A. The JPL Horizons system publishes trajectory solutions for the car as target body "-143205".

The Roadster is currently in a heliocentric orbit that crosses the orbit of Mars and reaches a distance of 1.66 astronomical units (au) from the Sun. Its inclination is approximately 1 degree to the ecliptic plane, compared to Mars' 1.85° inclination, which means the car's trajectory is not designed to intercept Mars or enter an orbit around Mars. This marks the second object launched by SpaceX to leave Earth orbit, following the DSCOVR mission to the Earth-Sun L1 Lagrangian point. Nine months after launch, the Tesla Roadster had traveled beyond the orbit of Mars, reaching aphelion at 12:48 UTC on November 9, 2018, at a distance of 248,892,559 km (1.664 au) from the Sun. The maximum speed of the car is relative to the Sun will be approximately 121,000 km/h (75,000 mph) at perihelion.

Even if the rocket had targeted an actual Mars transfer orbit, the car would not have been able to enter orbit around Mars, as the upper stage that carries it lacks the necessary propellant, manoeuvring, and communications capabilities. This flight simply demonstrated the Falcon Heavy's capability to launch significant payloads towards Mars for potential future missions.