SpaceX Starman, Tesla Roadster complete their first complete orbit around the Sun

Its been 1 year, 6 months & 12 days since Starman & Elon Musk's Tesla Roadster were launched.

Tech2 News Staff|Aug 20, 2019, 09:04:37 IST

After one year, six months, and twelve days, Starman and Elon Musk's Tesla Roadster have completed their first complete orbit of the sun.The car has exceeded its 57,936-kilometre warranty 21,200 times while driving around the Sun, moving at a speed of 120,922 kph, according to whereisroadster.com. Musk is probably disappointed that the Roadster isn't the fastest man-made object around, though. That record is currently held by the Helios 2 probe, which hit a velocity in excess of 160,000 kph while orbiting the sun.There's still a long time to go before Starman, a comic-inspired character recreated by SpaceX as a mannequin dressed in a spacesuit, returns and makes its touchdown on Earth. If you're wondering where it is now right now, you can head to this live Starman tracker.[caption id="attachment_7187521" align="alignnone" width="1280"]

Starman and the Tesla Roadster. Image: Wikimedia Commons[/caption]The Roadster was launched as the star payload on the first test of SpaceX's Falcon Heavy in February 2018. The car was SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk's personal vehicle and was blasting David Bowie's 1969 classic 'Space Oddity' as the rocket blasted off, over and over till the car's battery runs out.

Musk acknowledged that the cargo was “kinda silly and fun,” but he added that “silly and fun things are important.” By November, Starman had passed the orbit of Mars and was heading out towards the asteroid belt.It will be possible to catch a glimpse of the red Roadster on 5 November 2020, when the electric car is expected to be a little under 52 million kilometres away. The vehicle isn’t expected to reach earth again until 2047, according to Digital Trends.There's a chance that NASA will meet Starman in space, with the planned Mars 2020 mission looking to collect samples from Mars and return them to Earth to study. It remains to be seen whether Starman and his Tesla Roadster survive long enough in the harsh, radiation-ridden environment of space.

Careless Whispers: Scientists discover that plants can 'talk' to each other using smells

Japanese scientists have recorded a video that shows plants, in certain conditions, communicate with each other using mists that carry smells. The discovery, reveals that plants release a fine mist of airborne compounds, to warn nearby plants of potential dangers

Life on Mars? European Space Agency’s Orbiter discovers ice water deposits at equator

European Space Agency's Mars Express Orbiter has identified massive ice and ice water deposits beneath the surface of Mars. The Mars Express orbiter was also the first to confirmed the presence of ice on Mars in 2004

Microsoft briefly overtakes Apple as the most valuable company, Apple back on top again

At its peak during the session, Microsoft's value reached $2.903 trillion, with a 2% surge. As of writing this article, Apple closed at $2.89 trillion, whereas Microsoft closed at $2.86 trillion

Even NASA is facing a tough time, starts layoffs following major budget cuts

NASA is facing some massive budget cuts, because of which, it has been forced to postpone some upcoming missions. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory has been hit hard by recent federal budget cuts, resulting in the layoff of 100 contractors last week

ISRO, NASA's NISAR satellite to get ready by Jan-end, will monitor Earth's snow-covered regions

The NISAR satellite which has been developed jointly ISRO and NASA, should be ready for launch by the end of January 2024. The collaboration between NASA and ISRO on NISAR is the first time the two agencies have cooperated on hardware development for an Earth-observing mission

Up Next