Is it a bird? A plane? Nope, just a Tesla Roadster.

Usually we see cars on our roads, but Elon Musk, the founder of SpaceX and Tesla, had a very different idea. We’ve sent a lot of unusual things to space, but nothing compares to what Elon Musk achieved. In February 2018, SpaceX successfully launched its first Falcon Heavy rocket into space, the most powerful in the world, with Musk’s personal 2008 Tesla Roadster onboard. This playful payload, the electric sports car built by his other company, Tesla, is expected to orbit the sun for hundreds of millions of years. Wow! 

Even more surprising, strapped inside the car is a mannequin wearing one of SpaceX’s spacesuits. What’s even better, David Bowie’s Space Oddity is constantly playing. I mean, what a lucky mannequin!

Perhaps Elon had some other thoughts too. Surely, to search for distant garages in the galaxy to sign up to My Auto Shop was top of mind. We wouldn’t want the potential extraterrestrials forgotten about. No? 

Realistically though, since the launch a year ago, it’s probably safe to say the Roadster has travelled farther than any other car…ever. In fact, it’s estimated to be about equal to driving every single road in the world 50.7 times. Another wow! Despite the amazing mileage though, I’m sure a quick service and a WoF wouldn’t hurt from E.T’s garage on Mars. 

But where is the vehicle now? As of writing, the current location is 246,818,121 km from Earth, and is moving at 16.62 km/second! It exceeded its 57,000 km warranty, 31,000 times over on its journey so far. If you’re interested in seeing a visual – have a look at Where is Roadster?

It’s safe to say that if this car ever returns back to Earth, it’ll be in dire need of a service and a check up from one of our partner garages. I wonder which one Elon will choose around New Zealand. My guess is just as good as yours.