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Restore parking lot image. NOTABLE is not relevant here, UNDUE is. If we're having a history of "the boss' car", then it's reasonable to show it as such.
→‎top: This article is about the car's use as a dummy payload, not the car itself.
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{{merge|Falcon Heavy Demonstration Mission|discuss=Talk:Elon Musk's Tesla Roadster#Merger proposal|date=February 2018}}
{{merge|Falcon Heavy Demonstration Mission|discuss=Talk:Elon Musk's Tesla Roadster#Merger proposal|date=February 2018}}
{{Infobox automobile
| name = Elon Musk's {{nowrap|Tesla Roadster}}
| image = 20100715-elon-musk-tesla-roadster-tsla-10.jpg
| image_size = 250px
| caption = Elon Musk's Tesla Roadster outside SpaceX in 2010, California licence plate {{nowrap|<code>TSLA 10</code>}}
| manufacturer = [[Tesla Motors]]
}}
{{Infobox spaceflight |auto=all
{{Infobox spaceflight |auto=all
| name = Elon Musk's Tesla Roadster
| name = Elon Musk's Tesla Roadster

Revision as of 22:44, 7 February 2018

Elon Musk's Tesla Roadster
The Tesla Roadster mounted on its payload adapter before fairing encapsulation
Mission typeBoilerplate
OperatorSpaceX
COSPAR ID2018-017A
SATCAT no.43205
Spacecraft properties
SpacecraftTesla Roadster
ManufacturerTesla
Launch mass˜1,300 kg (2,900 lb)
PowerInert
Start of mission
Launch dateFebruary 6, 2018, 20:45 (2018-02-06UTC20:45) UTC[1]
RocketFalcon Heavy
Launch siteKennedy LC-39A
ContractorSpaceX
Orbital parameters
Reference systemHeliocentric
Perihelio altitude0.98 AU
Apohelio altitude2.61 AU
EpochFebruary 6, 2018[2]
 

Space entrepreneur Elon Musk owned a red first generation Tesla Roadster, which he used for commuting around Los Angeles.[3] It was subsequently launched into space on February 6, 2018 as part of a dummy payload for the maiden flight of the Falcon Heavy rocket. The car and rocket were both manufactured by companies founded and directed by Musk: the car was built by Tesla Motors while the rocket was built by SpaceX. Musk's Roadster is the first consumer car sent into space.

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It was launched with sufficient escape velocity to leave Earth's orbit and enter heliocentric orbit around the Sun, cycling between Earth and the asteroid belt, crossing the orbit of Mars.[4]

Objective

The purpose of including the Roadster on the maiden flight was to demonstrate that the Falcon Heavy can launch payloads as far as the orbit of Mars. Because of the risk involved with the launch of the new rocket, Musk stated that he intended to launch the "silliest thing we can imagine" on the new rocket. The exact payload was not known until the Roadster announcement.[5][6] Initially, there were conflicting reports whether the Roadster payload was fictitious, but Musk and many SpaceX employees later confirmed that the payload was legitimate.[7] On December 22, Musk published pictures of the car taken before payload encapsulation. The automobile was installed at an inclined position above the payload adapter in order to account for the mass distribution.[8]

The first generation Tesla Roadster is an all-electric sports car. Tesla delivered approximately 2,450 Roadsters worldwide between February 2008 and December 2012. The midnight cherry Roadster launched into space is one of Elon Musk's privately owned vehicles.[9][10]

A license for the launch was issued by the US Office of Commercial Space Transportation on February 2, 2018.[11]

This demonstration makes the Roadster the first consumer car sent into space.[12] Three Moon buggies were sent to space on the Apollo 15, 16, and 17 missions in the 1970s and these vehicles were left on the Moon.[13]

Roadster payload

A number of symbolic and whimsical objects were put in the Roadster. Positioned in the driver's seat is "Starman", a full-scale human dummy clad in SpaceX's pressure spacesuit.[14] He has his right hand on the steering wheel and left elbow resting on the open window sill. Starman is named for the David Bowie song "Starman".[15] The sound system on board the car was looping the Bowie songs "Space Oddity" and "Life on Mars?",[16] although sound does not transmit through the vacuum of space and battery power would eventually deplete.

There is a copy of Douglas Adams' 1979 novel The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy in the glovebox, along with a towel (a reference to the book) and a sign on the dashboard that reads "Don't Panic!" (another reference to the book).[17][18] The payload also includes a Hot Wheels miniature Roadster with a miniature Starman, a plaque bearing the names of the employees who worked on the project, a message on the vehicle's circuit board stating that it was "Made on Earth by humans",[19] and a copy of Isaac Asimov's Foundation series[20][21] on a laser optical quartz storage device (Arch 5D disk) created by the Arch Mission Foundation.[22]

Launch

Main article: Falcon Heavy Demonstration Mission

The car was launched aboard a Falcon Heavy rocket from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center[11] at 15:45 EST (20:45 UTC) on February 6, 2018,[23] putting the dummy payload into Earth orbit for an eventual elliptical orbit around the Sun.

The car was initially placed in Earth parking orbit, still attached to the Falcon Heavy second stage. After a longer-than-usual six-hour coast phase through the Van Allen radiation belts (thereby demonstrating a new capability requested by the U.S. Air Force for direct GEO insertion of heavy intelligence satellites), the second stage reignited for the Earth-escape trajectory.[24][25][26] The car features three cameras, which provided "epic views".[27]

Media coverage

In the hours after the successful Falcon Heavy launch, a live video feed of the Roadster and Starman was broadcast on YouTube. It was expected to last for about 12 hours until the on-board batteries are depleted, however, the livestream lasted for just over four hours.[28][29]

The car featured three cameras that provided a live video feed for about four hours after launch.[30]

Orbit

Elliptical orbit of car between earth's orbit and outside of Mars.[31]

The car was sent into an elliptical orbit around the Sun that will reach beyond Mars as far as the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter and will be close to Ceres' orbit but will not fly by Mars or Ceres nor enter an orbit around them.[32][33][34][35]

The first segment of this orbit is the same trajectory as a typical Hohmann transfer from Earth to Mars.[34] However, because the launch was outside the 2018 Mars launch window between April–May 2018, the Roadster will not encounter Mars at aphelion. Even if the launch occurred at the right time, neither the payload nor the Falcon Heavy upper stage is designed to operate in interplanetary space, lacking in propulsion, maneuvering and communications capacity required to enter Mars orbit. The purpose of launching the Roadster into space is to demonstrate that the Falcon Heavy can launch payloads that could reach Mars.

Future

According to Musk, the car could stay drifting in space for a billion years. Over time, it is expected that the Roadster will steadily sustain structural damage from solar radiation, cosmic radiation and micrometeorite impacts. Organic material ie. any material with a carbon bond, including carbon fiber parts, will eventually break apart due to radiation. Tires, paint, plastic and leather might last only about a year. The carbon fiber parts will last considerably longer. Eventually only the aluminum frame and glass not broken by meteors will remain.[36]

See also

References

  1. ^ Clark, Stephen (February 7, 2018). "SpaceX debuts world's most powerful rocket, sends Tesla toward asteroid belt". Spaceflight Now. Retrieved February 7, 2018.
  2. ^ Grush, Loren (February 6, 2018). "Elon Musk's Tesla overshot Mars' orbit and is headed to the asteroid belt". The Verge. Retrieved February 7, 2018.
  3. ^ Musk, Elon (March 27, 2012). "Driving with Elon Musk: Tesla's Iron Man Behind the Wheel". Forbes Life (Interview). Interviewed by Hannah Elliott. Retrieved February 7, 2018. "[Musk] It's the one I drive to work … this goes zero to sixty in 3.7 seconds. … [Elliott] When the Model S comes out will you then switch out of driving this car and drive a Model S? [Musk] Yes, will use this for summer driving on the weekends, and the Model S will become my daily driver: the advantage of the Model S is that I can then fit all the kids {{cite interview}}: Unknown parameter |subjectlink= ignored (|subject-link= suggested) (help)
  4. ^ "SpaceX Falcon Heavy Roars Into Space - SpaceRef". spaceref.com. Retrieved February 7, 2018.
  5. ^ "Elon Musk says SpaceX will try to launch his Tesla Roadster on new heavy-lift rocket". Space Flight Now.
  6. ^ Malik, Tariq (December 1, 2017). "Elon Musk Will Launch His Tesla Roadster to Mars on SpaceX's 1st Falcon Heavy Rocket". Space.com.
  7. ^ "Falcon Heavy's Debut Flight Payload: A Tesla Roadster". Aviation Week. December 6, 2017. Retrieved December 7, 2017.
  8. ^ Knapp, Alex (December 22, 2017). "Elon Musk Shows Off Photos of a Tesla Roadster Getting Prepped to Go to Mars". Forbes. Retrieved December 23, 2017.
  9. ^ "Falcon Heavy to Launch Next Month, Musk Says He's Sending His Roadster to Mars". Tesla Motors Club. Retrieved February 6, 2018.
  10. ^ Musk, Elon [@elonmusk] (December 2, 2017). "Payload will be my midnight cherry Tesla Roadster" (Tweet). Retrieved February 6, 2018 – via Twitter.
  11. ^ a b Wong, Kenneth; Office of Commercial Space Transportation (February 2, 2018). License Number: LLS 18-107 (PDF) (Report). Archived from [x the original] on February 3, 2018. Retrieved February 5, 2018. Space Exploration Technologies is authorized … flight of the Falcon Heavy launch vehicle from Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center (KSC) transporting the modified Tesla Roadster (mass simulator) to a hyperbolic orbit {{cite report}}: Check |url= value (help); Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  12. ^ "The First Car in Space". December 30, 2017. Retrieved January 14, 2018.
  13. ^ "The Apollo Lunar Roving Vehicle". NASA. November 15, 2005. Retrieved May 16, 2010.
  14. ^ Elon Musk Unveils 'Starman' in Tesla Roadster Launching on SpaceX's Falcon Heavy Rocket. Hanneke Weitering, Space.com. 5 February 2018.
  15. ^ Joe Pappalardo (February 5, 2018). "Elon Musk's Space Tesla Isn't Going to Mars. It's Going Somewhere More Important". Popular Mechanics.
  16. ^ "SpaceX Successfully Launches the Falcon Heavy—And Elon Musk's Roadster". WIRED. Retrieved February 7, 2018.
  17. ^ Musk, Elon [@elonmusk] (December 8, 2017). "Yes" (Tweet). Retrieved December 8, 2017 – via Twitter.
  18. ^ Musk, Elon [@elonmusk] (December 8, 2017). "Plus a towel and a sign saying 'Don't Panic'" (Tweet). Retrieved December 8, 2017 – via Twitter.
  19. ^ "Elon Musk on Instagram: "Printed on the circuit board of a car in deep space"". Instagram.
  20. ^ "Falcon Heavy Test Flight". YouTube. Retrieved February 6, 2018.
  21. ^ Gartenberg, Chaim. "The Falcon Heavy test flight included a copy of Isaac Asimov's Foundation novels". The Verge.
  22. ^ The Arch Mission
  23. ^ Brinkmann & Santana. "SpaceX Falcon Heavy launch live coverage: Liftoff successful". OrlandoSentinel.com. Retrieved February 6, 2018.
  24. ^ Berger, Eric. "Elon Musk says the Falcon Heavy has a 50-50 chance of success". Ars Technica. Retrieved February 6, 2018.
  25. ^ Gebhardt, Chris. "SpaceX set to debut Falcon Heavy in demonstration launch from KSC – NASASpaceFlight.com". NASAspaceflight.com. Retrieved February 6, 2018.
  26. ^ Boyle, Alan (February 6, 2018). "Elon Musk explains why SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket is risky – and revolutionary". GeekWire. Retrieved February 6, 2018.
  27. ^ Foust, Jeff (2018). "Musk: will be three cameras mounted on the Roadster, should provide "epic views" if all goes well". Twitter. @jeff_foust. Retrieved February 6, 2018.
  28. ^ "Live Views of Starman". YouTube.
  29. ^ Weitering, Hanneke (February 6, 2018). "Watch Live Views of SpaceX's Starman Riding a Tesla Roadster in Space!". Space.com. Retrieved February 6, 2018. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  30. ^ "This is what a Tesla Roadster looks like floating through space". CNBC. February 6, 2018. Retrieved February 7, 2018.
  31. ^ Musk, Elon [@elonmusk] (February 7, 2018). "Third burn successful. Exceeded Mars orbit and kept going to the Asteroid Belt" (Tweet) – via Twitter. Elon's Roadster; Apohelion (AU): 2.61; Perihelion (AU): 0.98; C3 Earth (km2/s2): 12.0 "Elon's Roadster; Apohelion (AU): 2.61; Perihelion (AU): 0.98; C3 Earth (km2/s2): 12.0"
  32. ^ "Musk says Tesla car will fly on first Falcon Heavy launch - SpaceNews.com". December 2, 2017.
  33. ^ SpaceX shows off stunning pictures of its Falcon Heavy rocket fully assembled on the launchpad. Loren Grush, The Verge. January 4, 2018.
  34. ^ a b Plait, Phil. "Elon Musk: On the Roadster to Mars". Syfy Wire. Retrieved December 7, 2017.
  35. ^ Elon Musk’s Tesla overshot Mars’ orbit and is headed to the asteroid belt The Verge. Retrieved February 7, 2018
  36. ^ Lezter, Rafi. "Radiation Will Tear Elon Musk's Rocket Car to Bits in a Year". LiveScience. Retrieved February 7, 2018.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Falcon Heavy Flight 1.
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