Don’t panic, but SpaceX launch didn’t go as planned: Tesla heads for asteroid belt, main booster destroyed
The whimsical mock payload of the Falcon Heavy rocket now faces an uncertain future, instead of a billion years orbiting the Sun
Elon Musk’s cherry red Tesla sports car and its dummy test pilot Starman were on a new course hurtling towards the asteroid belt on Wednesday after overshooting their planned trajectory.
Just hours after Tuesday’s spectacular launch from Florida of Falcon Heavy, the world’s most powerful space rocket, the billionaire founder of the private space flight company SpaceX admitted Starman had been a little heavy on the gas and would travel well beyond the intended target.
“Third burn successful. Exceeded Mars orbit and kept going to the Asteroid Belt,” Musk said in a tweet that seemed to confirm the final destination of the mission had changed.
Originally, the US$100,000 electric Tesla Roadster, chosen by Musk as a whimsical experimental payload for the Falcon Heavy’s maiden flight, had been intended to reach an orbit around the Sun at roughly the same distance as Mars, and orbit for a billion years.
On its new trajectory, the world’s first car-turned-spacecraft will take a months-long cruise through deep space before taking its chances in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, where the risk of a catastrophic collision is greater.