US EditionAsteroid or Artifact? How a Tesla Roadster Caused a Cosmic Misidentification - The Debrief
- An object initially thought to be an asteroid near Earth was identified as a Tesla car launched by Elon Musk in 2018 as part of a publicity stunt.
- The Minor Planet Center retracted the asteroid designation 2018 CN41 after confirming it was man-made debris from the Falcon Heavy rocket launch.
- The discovery was made by an amateur astronomer from Turkey, who expressed doubts after tracing the object's orbit.
- The Tesla Roadster, launched with a mannequin driver named 'Starman', has been orbiting the Sun since its launch nearly six years ago.
30 Articles
30 Articles
Asteroid or Artifact? How a Tesla Roadster Caused a Cosmic Misidentification - The Debrief
On January 2, 2025, the Minor Planet Center at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, not far from my Harvard office, announced a new asteroid labeled 2018 CN41. The orbital parameters included a semimajor axis 32.5% larger than the Earth-Sun separation and a modest eccentricity of 0.256, providing an orbital period of 1.53 years. The International Astronomical Union designates the Minor Planet Center to serve as the authority handling…
How the Tesla car sent into space by Elon Musk was mistaken for an asteroid heading towards Earth - HotNews.ro
In February 2018, Elon Musk stunned the world with a stunning image, sending a Tesla car into space, using a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket. Seven years later, an amateur astronomer from…
Astronomers announced the discovery of an asteroid near Earth, but it was a Tesla car that Elon Musk launched into space
Early in January, astronomers from the Minor Planet Center (MPC), an organism that is part of the Harvard-Smithsonian Astrophysics Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts, made known the discovery of a rare asteroid.The object was baptized as 2018 CN41 and caused great intrigue among scientists due to its orbit, since it was less than 150,000 miles (or 240,000 kilometers) from Earth, which is closer than the orbit of the Moon.That same allowed it to …
An "asteroid" heading towards Earth turned out to be the Tesla launched by Elon Musk in 2018 into space
A space object that astronomers initially identified as an asteroid heading towards Earth has turned out to be the Tesla car that Elon Musk launched into space in 2018 with SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket, writes The Independent.
Newly discovered ‘asteroid’ near Earth turns out to be Elon Musk’s car
An object in space that astronomers initially identified as an alarmingly close asteroid headed towards Earth turns out to be a Tesla car that Elon Musk launched in 2018 as part of a publicity campaign.
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