The Incredible Journey of Elon Musk’s Tesla Roadster in Space: Feats and Future Collisions

SpaceX’s Tesla Roadster Launched in 2018 Could Collide with Earth, Venus, or the Sun in the Future

It has been over six years since Elon Musk’s SpaceX launched a Tesla Roadster into space onboard the Falcon Heavy rocket, with Starman, a mannequin in a spacesuit, in the driver’s seat. Since then, the car has achieved some remarkable feats in space.

At the moment, the Tesla Roadster is over 62 million miles away from Earth, moving away from the planet at a speed of over 16,000 miles per hour. It has completed about 4.1263 orbits around the Sun and has traveled enough distance to drive around the world’s roads 79.2 times.

However, the most intriguing aspect of the Tesla Roadster’s journey is the possibility of it colliding with Earth, Venus, or the Sun in the centuries ahead. According to a 2018 paper, there is a 22 percent chance of the car hitting Earth in the next 15 million years. The paper also predicts a 12 percent chance of the car colliding with either Venus or the Sun.

The Roadster is currently drifting on a Mars-crossing orbit and is not expected to make any further course corrections. While the impact probability of the car hitting Earth can be estimated on human timescales, its chaotic orbit makes it difficult to predict its trajectory beyond the next few centuries.

Despite the potential collision risks, experts believe that the Tesla Roadster will likely burn up in the atmosphere without causing much damage or that better means of diverting it will be developed by the time it arrives. In 2047, the car is expected to pass Earth at a distance of about 5 million kilometers.

As we continue to track the Tesla Roadster’s journey through space, its fate remains uncertain, but one thing is for sure – it has captured the imagination of people around the world with its unprecedented voyage beyond our planet.