They say time flies when you’re having fun. Well, we don’t know how much fun the Starman mannequin has behind the wheel of the Tesla Roadster in space but we can tell you that guy is definitely going places.
A recent tweet from SpaceX let the world know Starman’s latest whereabouts: the Mars orbit. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, the cherry-red Tesla recently passed the Red Planet’s orbit and continues its epic journey around the cosmic space. Or so we’re told.
The company founded by Elon Musk made the announcement on its social media channels on November 2.
Starman’s current location. Next stop, the restaurant at the end of the universe. pic.twitter.com/Ty5m8IjJpE
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) November 3, 2018
The bit about the next stop being “the restaurant at the end of the universe” is a reference to Douglas Adams namesake book, the second in the five-part “Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” series.
Remember, it took the second-generation Tesla Roadster and its “driver” eight months to reach the Mars orbit with no propulsion whatsoever. Even more surprisingly, the dummy astronaut named after a David Bowie song is reportedly still in the driver’s seat.
There’s no actual proof of that, however — the photos you see are from the February launch and shortly after that. You may remember that shortly after the Roadster’s launch on the Falcon Heavy rocket, images from its onboard cameras cut out (see video below). You can still follow its coordinates via the Where is Roadster? website, though.
Elon Musk’s personal Roadster will continue its space odyssey by orbiting the Sun once every 557 days. In eight months and 27 days since launch, the vehicle has traveled far enough to drive all of the world’s roads 16.5 times, according to SpaceX. It has also exceeded its 36,000-mile (57,936-km) warranty 10,333 times.
Perhaps the most shocking fact about “the mission” regards Starman. Assuming the Roadster’s battery still works, by now the dummy has listened to Bowie’s “Space Oddity” 74,115 times in one ear, and to “Is there Life On Mars?” 99,866 times in the other ear.