It's a bird, it's an asteroid, no, it's a roadster!

On 2 January 2025, the Minor Planet Centre (MPC) in Cambridge caused a sensation when it discovered an ‘asteroid’ called 2018 CN41 that came within 149,130 miles of Earth – that’s 89,477 miles closer than the Moon. Such objects are closely monitored as they could theoretically collide with Earth one day. But the surprise was not long in coming: the supposed asteroid turned out to be a Tesla Roadster.

The stylish Fusion Red Roadster, with a spacesuited mannequin called ‘Starman’ at the wheel, has been flying through space for almost seven years. In February 2018, Elon Musk’s SpaceX sent a Falcon Heavy rocket into space with this unusual passenger as a payload. The Roadster in space was not only a technical experiment, but also an ingenious marketing campaign for SpaceX and Tesla.

A Hohmann transfer orbit was used to place the spacecraft in orbit around the Sun – a clever way of efficiently moving a spacecraft from one orbit to another. The vehicle is first launched into an elliptical orbit, and then a second engine is used to bring it into the target orbit.

And the best part? David Bowie’s “Space Oddity” played from the roadster as the rocket was launched!

A true interstellar road trip!