Starman, The Future of the Space Roadster and Elon | Summary and Q&A

TL;DR

After successfully launching Falcon Heavy and sending a Tesla Roadster into space, there are questions about what will happen to the car over time and its potential impact on Mars and other celestial bodies.

Key Insights

• 👾 The Tesla Roadster in space will not last for a billion years or even a few tens of millions of years.
• 😨 The car's organic compounds will quickly degrade due to exposure to solar radiation and other space conditions.
• 🥳 Metal parts, such as the frame, will last for millions of years but will be affected by micrometeoroids.
• 😚 The car's orbit could potentially bring it close to Venus or Earth, leading to a collision in the future.
• 🪺 The inclusion of "easter eggs" highlights the fun aspects of the launch and adds cultural significance to the mission.
• 🛟 The Arch libraries aim to preserve human knowledge and culture for future generations or potential extraterrestrial civilizations.
• 😚 The successful launch of Falcon Heavy proves SpaceX's capabilities and brings us closer to a manned mission to Mars.

Transcript

After what was one of the most exciting and iconic rocket launches since the Saturn V, SpaceX successfully launched Falcon Heavy a few days ago. I won’t lie, I wished SpaceX good luck, but complicated rockets of this nature present problems that prevent complete ground testing, and I was worried. You just have to eventually take the plunge and laun... Read More

Questions & Answers

Q: What will happen to the Tesla Roadster in space over time?

The car's organic compounds, such as plastics and vinyl, will degrade and disintegrate quickly due to solar radiation and other space conditions. However, the metal parts, such as the frame, will last for millions of years, albeit gradually being eroded by micrometeoroids.

Q: Could the car potentially reach Mars or other celestial bodies?

The Tesla Roadster's current orbit may bring it close to Venus in the future, which could result in a collision with either Venus or Earth. However, it was not intended to go into Mars orbit, as it lacks the equipment for such a mission.

Q: What interesting items were included in the Tesla Roadster?

As "easter eggs," SpaceX included a copy of Douglas Adam's "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy," a towel, a Hot Wheels copy of the car with a tiny Starman, David Bowie songs playing on the stereo, and a digital disk containing Isaac Asimov's "Foundation Trilogy."

Q: What is the purpose of the Arch libraries included in the Roadster?

The Arch libraries aim to store human knowledge and culture on long-term storage devices throughout the solar system. If civilization is lost and later rediscovered, or if extraterrestrial civilizations find them, they could retrieve valuable information about humanity.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• SpaceX successfully launched Falcon Heavy with a Tesla Roadster as its payload, demonstrating the rocket's capabilities.

• The car is now in a heliocentric orbit that takes it towards the asteroid belt and is exposed to solar radiation, cosmic rays, and micrometeoroids.

• While the organic compounds in the car will degrade quickly, the metal parts will last for millions of years, although they will be scoured by micrometeoroids.