Tesla Roadster spent a year in space. And retired from Earth on 364 million kilometers
February 7, 2019Now the car is moving at a speed of about 7900 kilometers per hour
For the year in space, the Tesla Roadster retired 364.5 million kilometers from Earth. The launch of the machine with the help of the launch vehicle Falcon Heavy, owned by SpaceX, took place on February 6 last year.
In the rocket, the car was used as a “mass simulator”. Initially it was assumed that the roadster will be delivered to the heliocentric orbit around the Sun, which allows you to get to Mars most effectively. But due to the fact that the second stage of the Falcon Heavy dispersed the car too much, it was not possible to go into orbit. She walked past the “red planet” and went to the asteroid belt – the place where many space objects accumulate between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.
On the WhereIsRoadster website, in real-time, it tracks the distance Tesla has moved away from Earth, Mars and the Sun, as well as its speed. So, the distance from the Sun is now 232.3 million kilometers, and from Mars – 263.5 million kilometers. From Earth, the car is moving at a speed of 7900 kilometers per hour.
NASA has added Tesla Roadster to the list of space objects. And the command of the military space forces of the US Air Force recognized the electric car as a satellite.
View from SpaceX Launch Control. Apparently, there is a car in orbit around Earth. pic.twitter.com/QljN2VnL1O
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) 6 лютого 2018 р.
