HACKER Q&A
📣 youngNed

How does someone find a Tesla Roadster in space


I was just reading this article[1] while looking for something else, I had somehow forgotten this incident, but got wondering 'how difficult is it to find that car?'

Do we know its start location? If we do surely there is some maths that can tell us where it is?

Can we point telescopes at it? A car isn't very big in space - what sort of telescope would we need?

Are there any other methods for finding it?

[1] https://www.ft.com/content/ccd3357a-eabe-3918-910c-ed2c63c59886


  👤 h2odragon Accepted Answer ✓

👤 raxxorraxor
https://where-is-tesla-roadster.space/live

There is more information here how it is tracked. Apparently it will first come near earth in 2047 when the phases align again, the orbit of the roadster is significantly longer.

I doubt you could see it now even with a larger telescope, even if it had headlights on.


👤 abudabi123
The web address I forget bu astronomy buffs have a website tracking the whereabouts of that Tesla Roadster. It may be used as a reference point for instrument calibration.