Science

Live Feed Shows SpaceX "Starman" Traveling Through Space in a Tesla

"There's a Starman waiting in the sky."

by Danny Paez
SpaceX

Elon Musk’s aerospace company, SpaceX, successfully conducted a test launch of its Falcon Heavy rocket on February 6. There were only two things aboard the payload of this historic launch: Musk’s personal Tesla Roadster and “Starman”, a dummy in a SpaceX spacesuit.

Roughly an hour after the launch was confirmed successful, Musk tweeted a link to a live feed of Starman’s journey through space.

Enter the Elon Musk Gear Giveaway.

There appears to be multiple cameras mounted onto the Falcon Heavy payload. The stream cycles through the different shots giving onlookers a view of the front, the left, and the inside of the vehicle.

The car is destined for Mars, but it won’t actually be touching down on the Red Planet. It will instead be going into a billion-year orbit around our planetary neighbor. Musk announced this undertaking in December 2017 and has wholly delivered.

Unfortunately, it’s unlikely that the live stream of Starman will last until it arrives to its destination. As the the payload drifts further and further from Earth, the cameras will likely lose connection, leaving Starman to continue his adventure alone.

Inverse reached out to SpaceX regarding how they were operating the live stream, but were not met with a response.

Musk later revealed an Easter egg inside of his Tesla that is now floating through space. It is a hidden message for any potential Martians — or other extraterrestrial Starman might encounter during his endless travels between Earth and Mars.

If Starman and the Roadster are successfully able to make their journey to Mars and back again — and again, and again, and again — they will serve as an enduring symbol of human innovation. They are already off to an impressive start.

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