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An amateur astronomer made a tiny mistake when he spotted the Tesla Roadster that Elon Musk and SpaceX fired into space a few years ago.
Elon Musk launched the Tesla Roadster into space aboard a SpaceX rocket in 2018 in what was essentially a marketing stunt.
The EV has been orbiting the Earth ever since, and there are several websites that are tracking the car’s trajectory.
The problem is that this guy probably hadn’t checked those websites, and what he saw made everyone gasp for a second.
Here’s what happened to Musk’s Tesla
Elon Musk used his Roadster as a dummy payload for the rocket’s first test and launched it into space.
The car was Musk’s personal Roadster, but he even placed a SpaceX mannequin inside named Starman.
There are several websites that keep track of the car, including Whereisroadster.com, which is probably the most famous.
At the time of writing, the car is around 84 million miles from Earth, but it is currently moving away from Mars and the Sun and back toward Earth, and it’s doing so at a speed of around 35,000+ mph.
The fact that this Tesla Roadster is approaching Earth again, combined with the astronomer’s mistake, caused some panic.
Here’s why there was a collective moment of panic
The problem is that there are so many objects flying around the Earth – including SpaceX’s Starlink satellites, ironically – and it’s been difficult to keep track of everything that’s in orbit.
Also, if you’re an amateur astronomer, it’s not like you’re going to see a red car-shaped figure in space.
All you’ll see is a tiny dot.
So when this Turkish astronomer spotted the vehicle, he initially mistook it for a new asteroid, which set off a few alarm bells.
But then Peter Veres, an astrophysicist at the Minor Planet Center, explained what happened.
Speaking to the Smithsonian Magazine, he explained that the Turkish astronomer had cross-referenced the Roadster via a catalog of artificial satellites that did not include the Roadster, and so he had assumed it was an asteroid approaching Earth.
In theory, the SpaceX Roadster could eventually hit Earth, but not for millions of years.
Scientists estimate there is about a 6 percent chance of a collision within the next million years, and a 22 percent to 50 percent chance over tens of millions of years.
And even if it ever does enter our atmosphere, the car will almost entirely vaporize on entry, posing absolutely no danger to anyone on the ground.
