NCIE
   
 

Science

SpaceX's Starman and Elon Musk's Tesla Have Made a Lap Around the Sun

Starman and his deep-space ride have completed their first lap around the sun.
The spacesuit-clad mannequin, who sits behind the wheel of SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk's red Tesla Roadster. The duo wrapped up their first solar orbit over the weekend, according to the tracking site Starman and the Tesla have an orbital period of about 557 Earth days, the website calculated, and they've been in space for 560 days.
At launch, the Roadster's radio was playing David Bowie's "Life on Mars." If the car's battery is still working, Starman has now heard the song more than 150,000 times, according to the tracking site. And the site provides some other interesting tidbits as well.
Car and driver will probably make many more laps around our star.. But there's just a 6 percent chance of an Earth impact, and a 2.5 percent chance of a Venus impact.