Mysterious New Asteroid Turns Out To Be Tesla Roadster in Space

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    SpaceX 'Starman' Flies by Earth in Tesla Roadster

    A strange object initially thought to be a newly discovered asteroid actually turned out to be a Tesla zipping through space.

    The "asteroid" was designated 2018 CN41 on January 2 by the Minor Planet Center (MPC) at the Harvard–Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Massachusetts, after its discovery by an amateur astronomer from Turkey.

    2018 CN41 has an orbit that brought it within 150,000 miles of our planet, closer than the moon, meaning that it could be classified as a Near-Earth Object or NEO.

    However, only hours later, the MPC announced that 2018 CN41 was being removed from their records, as it wasn't an asteroid and was in fact a car that had been launched into space some seven years ago.

    tesla car in space
    The Tesla roadster launched on the Falcon Heavy rocket in 2018 with a dummy driver named "Starman" (main) and stock image of an asteroid (inset). SpaceX via Getty Images / ISTOCK / GETTY IMAGES PLUS

    "The designation 2018 CN41, announced in MPEC 2025-A38 on Jan 2, 2025 UT, is being deleted," the MPC said in the retraction notice.

    "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."

    In 2018, Elon Musk and SpaceX made headlines when they launched a Tesla Roadster into space as the payload for the maiden flight of the Falcon Heavy rocket on February 6, 2018, from Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

    The Falcon Heavy needed a test payload, and Musk decided to use his personal 2010 Tesla Roadster. The car was equipped with cameras to provide stunning views of Earth and space, and featured a mannequin in a SpaceX spacesuit at the wheel, named "Starman," inspired by the David Bowie song.

    The citizen scientist who first discovered the object, who asked to be referred to as "G", initially submitted his observations to the MPC, but then began to doubt his findings.

    "I first went to JPL's Small Body Database to quickly take a look at the Earth close approach dates and potential Mars close approach dates, to see if I could correlate those to a known interplanetary mission. I failed — the Falcon launch had never crossed my mind. I almost concluded it was an actual NEO and stopped looking, but I asked around on the Minor Planet Mailing List just to erase my final doubts" G told Astronomy.

    It was then that Jonathan McDowell, an astronomer at the Harvard–Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, began to suspect that the object could be the Falcon upper stage.

    "Being slightly embarrassed that I might have caused unnecessary excitement (it WAS quite a low MOID [minimum orbital intersection distance]), I quickly went to MPC's help desk and let them know the NEO I just submitted was a rocket stage," G said.

    While amusing, this astronomical case of misidentification has concerned some scientists, especially because this isn't the first time that a man-made object has subsequently been mistaken for an asteroid.

    NASA's Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) in deep space at the L2 Lagrange point was added to the MPC's Near-Earth Object Confirmation Page (NEOCP) several times, while the Rosetta spacecraft on its way to land on the comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko was accidentally designated as the asteroid 2007 VN84.

    The BepiColombo mission to Mercury, NASA's Lucy mission to the asteroid belt, and the Spektr-RG X-ray observatory at the L2 Lagrange point were all also added and swiftly deleted from MPC's asteroid records.

    "This incident, along with previous NEOCP postings of the WMAP spacecraft, highlights the deplorable state of availability of positional information on distant artificial objects," the MPC said when it retracted 2007 VN84.

    "A single source for information on all distant artificial objects would be very desirable."

    Do you have a tip on a science story that Newsweek should be covering? Do you have a question about asteroids? Let us know via science@newsweek.com.

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    About the writer

    Jess Thomson is a Newsweek Science Reporter based in London UK. Her focus is reporting on science, technology and healthcare. She has covered weird animal behavior, space news and the impacts of climate change extensively. Jess joined Newsweek in May 2022 and previously worked at Springer Nature. She is a graduate of the University of Oxford. Languages: English. You can get in touch with Jess by emailing j.thomson@newsweek.com.


    Jess Thomson is a Newsweek Science Reporter based in London UK. Her focus is reporting on science, technology and healthcare. ... Read more