Astronomers have mistaken SpaceX's car in space for a new asteroid, issuing a warning.
On January 2, the International Astronomical Union's Minor Planet Center announced what they thought was a new Near-Earth Object (NEO). It was dubbed 2018 CN41.
To qualify as a NEO, the object has to orbit less than 240,000 kilometres (150,000 miles) from Earth - closer than the Moon - and have the potential to one day hit Earth.
Spotted by an amateur astronomer in Turkey, the object had an eccentric orbit and seemed to fit the profile of an asteroid.
Advert
However, a team member realised the object's orbit matched that of '2018-017A' - an artificial object already known to scientists.
And, less than 17 hours after the announcement, the Minor Planet Center said it was deleting 2018 CN41 from its records.
Turns out, the object was nothing other than a Tesla Roadster which was attached to Spacex's Falcon Heavy rocket back in 2018 and blasted off to space.
Advert
The Roadster, which had been owned and driven by Musk, was launched as part of a publicity stunt while the Falcon Heavy was being tested.
"The designation 2018 CN41, announced in MPEC 2025-A38 on Jan 2, 2025 UT, is being deleted," the Minor Planet Center stated. "The object was reported through the identifications pipeline as a 3-nighter linkage found in the isolated tracklet file and more tracklets were linked in the ITF, leading to a small object on a heliocentric NEO orbit."
They added: "The next day it was pointed out the orbit matches an artificial object 2018-017A, Falcon Heavy Upper stage with the Tesla roadster. The designation 2018 CN41 is being deleted and will be listed as omitted."
Advert
Now, the car orbits the Sun with a mannequin in a spacesuit named Starman behind the wheel.
Astronomers are voicing the problem related to the growing number of untracked objects in space, issuing a stark warning over the object once thought to be an 'asteroid'.
"Worst case, you spend a billion launching a space probe to study an asteroid and only realize it’s not an asteroid when you get there," said astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell.
Scientists estimate there’s a 22% chance the Tesla vehicle could collide with Earth and a 12% chance of hitting Venus or the Sun. Thankfully, any such impact is likely millions of years away so Elon won’t have to worry about the event affecting Tesla stock anytime soon.
Advert
The Roadster will make another close approach to Earth in 2047, passing within 5 million kilometres (3.1 million miles).