Looking for Starman - Tesla Roadster in Space (1 Viewer)

[Linda]

Did you all see the report about Elon Musk launching a Tesla Roadster into space? It has a "driver" complete with a spacesuit. The original trajectory was for a Mars orbit, but the third stage booster misfired and it is going elsewhere.

Cameras have been sending some magnificent pictures. On the dashboard you can see a sign that says "Don't Panic - a nod to the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy.

But the real iconic image from the launch, the one most likely to stand the test of time, is of the cherry-red Tesla Roadster that Musk embedded in the capsule of the payload rocket. A gleaming convertible floating through (actual, real) space, its wheels not spinning at all, an astronaut-suited mannequin posed, unperturbed, with its arm hanging out the side. The Earth eventually looms in the background, incomprehensibly large, seen through the windshield.​

One of the interesting conversations about this project is whether or not it is art. It certainly is visually catching, is not there for a specific purpose, and gets people talking. So, maybe it is. I had not thought about it in that way, but I like the idea. I like to think of "others" having a WTH moment as the roadster goes by their space ship.

https://www.theverge.com/2018/2/10/16997124/elon-musk-spacex-tesla-art-starman-advertising

 

[Angela]

Kind of reminds me of Russell's teapot. Haha

 

[Lila]

I wonder how they got the lighting in place (and surviving the launch) to take the photos in space
Then I wonder how pockmarked it is getting from micrometerorites

 

[Linda]

It was inside a capsule during the launch. Supposedly it has been tracked by another group and NASA has given it a name, as an object in space.