Posted on 01/24/2025 9:42:43 PM PST by BenLurkin
Harvard University-affiliated astronomers announced the discovery of a new asteroid zooming precariously close to Earth — only to learn it was actually a Tesla sports car launched by Elon Musk as a publicity stunt seven years ago, scientists said Friday.
The Minor Planet Center in Cambridge, Mass., officially registered the new space rock Jan. 2, saying it was spotted hurling through the final frontier roughly 150,000 miles from Earth, according to Astronomy magazine.
Its distance was closer to the planet than the moon— prompting the scientists to declare the asteroid had the potential to some day slam into Earth.
The elite organization, located at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, then gave the object an official name: “2018 CN41.”
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
Trust the science!!
I remember that well! It was amazing to watch as the payload fairings fell away and the Tesla with the dummy astronaut had the Earth for a backdrop. Fantastic!
“Some day people will travel to see that car, it will have to be under some sort of legal protection to keep it from being tampered with..”
Or.. some collector will pay multiple millions of dollars to own it as a piece of history...
Trust science...right.
The next “close” encounter between the earth and Starman will be January 11, 2047 at around 9:35 PM UTC, when it will pass within 3,000,000 miles, or more than 12 times the distance to the moon. And it is possible that rich private adventurers may take a ride in a spaceship to see it then.
It looks like a misidentification by the reporting observatory. That happens. According to NASA’s very reliable and very accurate Jet Propulsion Laboratory on January 2, Starman was no closer than 232,000,000 miles from earth, more than twice the distance from the sun to the earth. It is possible that because the observation time was brief, and earth and Starman are on opposite sides of similar orbits its angular velocity made it appear closer (fitting an orbit) than it actually was. Preliminary reports of asteroids to the minor planet center are more BOLO (”be on the look out”) than arrest warrants. Before it was “confirmed” more observations would have been necessary. The posting was to obtain confirmatory observations.
The Harvard-Smithsonian center became the central clearing house for “astronomical telegrams” to coordinate observations around the world at the start of the last century. It was a voluntary association, funded with privately donated money, and has proven very useful. Harvard got the job by default, it was never sought. They had the world’s most productive observatory at the time, and observatories were sending them telegrams, so why not share?
What a crazy animated movie that is! And not for children!
Never seen that before. Cool!
you need to watch the first five minutes or so of Frankenstein versus the space monster, it’s got a car drive scene from patrick afb to cape canaveral afs from the 60’s. free on youtube.
The trunk of that car would have been the perfect place to hide a body.
Thanks! We just watched that, very entertaining.
We also used to drive down south Patrick drive and go over the causeway at Eau Gallie.
Did you ever see the dragon on the southern tip of Merritt Island spit fire?
It only did that on special occasions such as Halloween!
I went to Sabal Elementary School through 6th grade, was a member of the Eau Gallie Junior Police League in the 60’s, and my Dad used to fish off the old wooden bridge there regularly. I caught needlefish and blowfish while he caught Trout, Flounder, and Pompano. I was living just South of Indialantic in 2004 when the hurricanes put paid to the dragon. I would put my waverunner in at the Eau Gallie Causeway, run south to Captain Hirams, head out sebastien inlet, run north to port canaveral, come backthru the lock, then down the banana river back to the causeway. If you saw the missile garden in front of patrick, My brothers and I would climb out on the Snark and sit on the nose to watch our dad who was fishing down on the beach. The APs just told us to becareful. The 60’s in brevard county was great.
We lived in Patrick south housing area practically right under the water tower next to the Publix supermarket and Satellite Bch. High School.
Kids went to what was then Spessard Holland Elementary.
Husband flew with the ARIA aircraft Air Force Eastern Test Range 1971-75.
We moved there after 3 years in Hawaii.
My husband had phenomenal luck with drawing 2 great assignments, then he drew 4 years at the Pentagon.
“ it was spotted hurling through the final frontier”
It’s still waiting to charge its batteries.
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