Tesla Roadster In Space Completes First Orbit Around The Sun, Mars Next

It is jubilant anniversary time for Tesla Roadster, the electric sports car that was launched into outer space by SpaceX.

The car satellite has completed one full orbiting of the sun. It took 557 days for the Tesla Roadster to circle the Earth’s home star.

According to space news, SpaceX launched the Tesla sports car artificial satellite as a payload in the Falcon Heavy test flight in February 2018.

Both Space X and Tesla are founded by Elon Musk.

In the space, the cosmic driver of the car is named Starman -a mannequin dressed in a spacesuit.

Data from “Where is Roadster” website informs that the distance cruised by Starman will be 762 million miles in space and equivalent to 21,000 times more than the original 36,000-mile warranty.

On Oct 7, it will come much closer to Mars at about 4.6 million miles. The Roadster is coming near to Mars soon and 69 million miles away from it as it starts the second circling around the sun. It will come close to Earth by November 2020.

After that, Starman will have a lonely voyage for close to three decades and will not come close to home Earth until 2047. In Nov. 2018, nine months into the launch Starman and Roadster had crossed Mars.

Space enthusiasts had been monitoring Starman's progress and watching skies for its rare appearances.

Progress in tracking Starman

However, watching Starman drifting through the night sky will be hard as Earth is currently on the opposite side of the Sun.

The quarter-century gap by 2047 when the Roadster comes closer to Earth after 2020 will be a long time. By then the world would have changed a lot. When Starman pays the next visit to the home planet, deep space travel would be a routine affair.

For example, the U.S. is aiming to Mars mission for humans in 2030 or later.

Competition for Tesla’s Roadster

Meanwhile, Tesla Roadster that makes big Tesla news will have some serious competition from Drako Motors’ GTE, an electric sedan aiming to take on the most powerful cars in the world.

The Drako GTE, with its four-motor direct drive system, will deliver 1,200HP and a massive 6,500ft/lb of torque with great off-the-line acceleration. The machine aims to be a 206MPH top speed quicker than any EVs ever.

Deliveries are expected in 2020. But the automaker is going for a limited edition release and price will be in the region of $1.25 million each.

This contrasts Tesla's $200,000 Roadster as a mass-produced vehicle.

Musk was using the sun-orbiting Roadster of 2008 model for commuting to work before it earned the distinction of being the first production car in space.

Falcon Heavy is a reusable rocket per SpaceX news and is capable of carrying heavy payloads beyond Earth's atmosphere.