Elon Musk's Tesla Roadster
 The Tesla Roadster mounted on its payload adapter before fairing encapsulation | |
| Operator | SpaceX |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Tesla |
| Instrument type | Inert mass |
| Function | Dummy payload |
| Website | spacex.com |
| Properties | |
| Mass | Approximately 1,300 kg (2,900 lb) |
| Host spacecraft | |
| Launch date | January 2018 |
| Rocket | Falcon Heavy |
| Launch site | Kennedy LC-39A |
| COSPAR ID | 2018-017B |
| Orbit | Heliocentric |
Elon Musk's Tesla Roadster is a private automobile that has been adapted to fit as a dummy payload for the maiden flight of the Falcon Heavy rocket. The vehicle is a first-generation Roadster produced in 2009 by Tesla Motors, an American electric car manufacturer co-founded by Elon Musk. On December 1, 2017, Musk announced on Twitter that SpaceX, his private aerospace company, would launch the automobile on the first flight of the company's new super heavy-lift launch vehicle in January 2018. Three weeks later, he followed up by posting photographs of the Roadster mounted to the rocket's payload adapter before encapsulation in the fairing.
The car will be launched on a Hohmann transfer orbit around the Sun that will take it as far out as Mars' orbit.[1][2][3] Because of the risk involved with the launch of the new rocket, Musk previously stated that he intended to launch the "silliest thing we can imagine" on the new rocket, but the exact payload was not known until the Roadster announcement.[4][5]
Background
The 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 is one of Elon Musk's privately owned vehicles, which was produced in 2009.
Launch
The car will be launched in January 2018 with the first Falcon Heavy on elliptical orbit around the Sun.[1] There were conflicting reports that the payload was "made up", but Musk and many SpaceX employees later clarified that the payload is legitimate.[6] According to Elon Musk, it could stay drifting in space for one billion years. The sound system onboard the car will play the song Space Oddity by David Bowie [5] and there will be a copy of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy in the glovebox, along with a towel and a sign saying Don't Panic.[7][8]
On December 22, Elon Musk published pictures of the car taken before payload encapsulation. The automobile is installed at an inclined position above the payload adapter in order to account for the mass distribution.[9]
This demonstration could make the Roadster the first consumer car sent into space.[10] Previously, three Moon buggies were sent to space on the Apollo 15, 16, and 17 missions and all of these rovers remain on the Moon.[11]
References
- ^ a b "Musk says Tesla car will fly on first Falcon Heavy launch - SpaceNews.com". December 2, 2017.
- ^ SpaceX shows off stunning pictures of its Falcon Heavy rocket fully assembled on the launchpad. Loren Grush, The Verge. 4 January 2018.
- ^ Plait, Phil. "Elon Musk: On the Roadster to Mars". Syfy Wire. Retrieved December 7, 2017.
- ^ "Elon Musk says SpaceX will try to launch his Tesla Roadster on new heavy-lift rocket". Space Flight Now.
- ^ a b Malik, Tariq (December 1, 2017). "Elon Musk Will Launch His Tesla Roadster to Mars on SpaceX's 1st Falcon Heavy Rocket". Space.com.
- ^ "Falcon Heavy's Debut Flight Payload: A Tesla Roadster". Aviation Week. December 6, 2017. Retrieved December 7, 2017.
- ^ Musk, Elon [@elonmusk] (December 7, 2017). "Yes" (Tweet). Retrieved December 8, 2017 – via Twitter.
- ^ Musk, Elon [@elonmusk] (December 7, 2017). "Plus a towel and a sign saying 'Don't Panic'" (Tweet). Retrieved December 8, 2017 – via Twitter.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "The First Car in Space". December 30, 2017. Retrieved January 14, 2018.
- ^ "The Apollo Lunar Roving Vehicle". NASA. November 15, 2005. Retrieved May 16, 2010.