The SpaceX CEO's electric vehicle made headlines when it was launched into space on February 6, 2018 aboard a Falcon Heavy, the first flight for the w

Where is Starman? Tesla Roadster embarks on third — loneliest — orbit around the Sun

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2021-07-20 14:00:12

The SpaceX CEO's electric vehicle made headlines when it was launched into space on February 6, 2018 aboard a Falcon Heavy, the first flight for the world's most powerful operational rocket.

The website WhereIsRoadster showed that, as of Thursday, February 25, 2021 Musk's car had completed two orbits around the Sun.

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It's a big moment for the unconventional payload. The car holds a dummy dubbed "Starman" in the driver's seat wearing a SpaceX spacesuit. The words "Don't Panic" are emblazoned on the dashboard, a reference to the Douglas Adams novel The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. A "5D quartz laser storage device," produced by the Arch Mission Foundation, contained Isaac Asimov's Foundation book trilogy. The in-car sound system played David Bowie's "Space Oddity" on loop.

The WhereIsRoadster website's creator, self-taught programmer Ben Pearson, tells Inverse he "hadn't realized" the milestone "was going to happen so soon."