Starman and his Tesla Roadster were officially far away from home. SpaceX confirmed that the Falcon Heavy test load passed the orbit of Mars, being at one of the greatest distances from the Sun (it should reach its far point on November 8 - then the distance will be 1.66 AU). Although this journey is not about Mars at all, it is certainly a feat for an electric vehicle and a dummy that travels in it. Perhaps you should remember this moment - the next time Starman will approach Earth very soon.
In accordance with the models of Ben Pearson, the space dummy will not come close to Earth for another two years, until November 4, 2020, and even then the distance to it will be 0.35 AU. (53 million kilometers) from us. However, it will fit another 0.05 AU. (7.5 million kilometers) to Mars on October 6 of the same year. You may not see a truly close visit to Earth until 2091. And unless a purposeful or unexpected collision awaits him, the “Star Man” can be quite lonely for thousands or even millions of years.
On Tesla in space
When SpaceX launched Falcon Heavy in December 2017, almost a year ago, Ilon Musk found the launch of conventional test blocks "boring":
“Red car for the Red Planet,” Musk wrote in Instagram. “As part of test launches of new missiles, concrete or steel blocks are usually used to simulate payloads. It seemed to us very boring. It's boring to be boring. Especially for companies. Therefore, we decided to do something unusual, something that makes us proud. The payload in this case will be the original Tesla Roadster, on whose multimedia system the Space Oddity track will play when it moves in a very elongated elliptical orbit around Mars. ”
