"Starman" and Elon Musk's Tesla roadster were launched in space in February 2018. (AFP pic)
It has been a little over five years since SpaceX first test-launched its powerful Falcon Heavy rocket. The February 2018 launch also shot SpaceX CEO Elon Musk's personal Tesla Roadster into space and the sports car is still out there in orbit revolving around the sun. Now, Whereisroadster.com, which has been tracking the red car on its journey through space, has revealed where the vehicle is exactly.
Taking to Twitter, creator Ben Pearson noted that the sportscar and a mannequin named Starman were set to "cross the orbit of Mars for the 4th time since it launched" as the car neared its fifth anniversary in space. "Mars is on the other side of its orbit," Mr Pearson said.
According to Whereisroadster.com, since its launch in 2018, the car has exceeded its 36,000-mile warranty approximately 70,164 times while driving around the sun. "It has achieved a fuel economy of 8,552 kilometres per litre," the website read.
It also added that the mannequin named Starman has completed around 3.2843 orbits around the Sun since launch. "The vehicle has travelled far enough to drive all of the world's roads 63.2 times. It has been 5 years, 3 days, 13 hours, 37 minutes and 20 seconds since launch," it noted.
According to CNET, the team at Whereisroadster.com have also worked out that the red sports car will make a close encounter with Earth in 2091 when it will come within a couple hundred thousand kilometres of the planet where it was made.
Notably, Starman and Elon Musk's Roaster was launched in space on February 6, 2018.