Starman’s Tesla Roadster Logs Impressive Mileage Beyond Mars

Starman and his trusty Tesla Roadster have been on quite the journey since their launch on the maiden mission of SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket back in February. According to SpaceX representatives, the duo has now traveled beyond the orbit of Mars, with their current location prompting the company to humorously tweet, “Next stop, the restaurant at the end of the universe.”

The mannequin driver, affectionately named Starman, is a nod to the late author Douglas Adams and his “Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” series. Even the car’s entertainment display reads “Don’t Panic!” in reference to the guidebook from the series. Additionally, the Roadster was programmed to play David Bowie’s iconic songs “Space Oddity” and “Life on Mars” during its deep-space journey.

Elon Musk, the mastermind behind SpaceX and Tesla, decided to send Starman and his Roadster into space for a fun and unique payload, rather than the typical inert-mass dummy. The car, which once belonged to Musk himself, will eventually loop back towards the sun and come within a few hundred thousand kilometers of Earth in 2091.

While the chances are slim, an orbit-modeling study predicts that the Roadster may collide with either Earth or Venus within the next few tens of millions of years. For those interested in tracking Starman’s cosmic journey, a website called whereisroadster.com has been created for that purpose.

As Starman continues his space road trip, SpaceX is gearing up for its next Falcon Heavy mission in January 2019, which will launch the Saudi Arabian communications satellite Arabsat-6A. The adventures of Starman and his Tesla Roadster serve as a reminder of the boundless possibilities of space exploration and the whimsical spirit of innovation.