                  APOD: 2018 February 13 - Car Orbiting Earth

                         Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! [1] Each day a different image or photograph of our
 fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a
                           professional astronomer.

                               2018 February 13
                                      [2]
                              Car Orbiting Earth
                              Credit: SpaceX [3]

Explanation: Last week, a car orbited the Earth. The car, created by humans
and robots on the Earth, was launched [4]  by the SpaceX Company [5]  to
demonstrate the ability of its Falcon Heavy Rocket [6] to place spacecraft out
in the Solar System [7] . Purposely fashioned to be whimsical [8] , the iconic
car [9] was thought a better demonstration object than concrete blocks. A
mannequin [10]  clad in a spacesuit -- dubbed the Starman [11]  -- sits in the
driver's seat. The featured image [12]  is a frame from a video [13] taken by
one of three cameras mounted on the car [14] . These cameras, connected to the
car's battery, are now out of power. The car [15] , attached to a second stage
booster, soon left Earth [16] orbit [17]  and will orbit the Sun [18]  between
Earth [19]  and the asteroid belt [20] indefinitely -- perhaps until billions
of years from now when our Sun [21]  expands into a Red Giant [22] . If ever
recovered, what's left of the car [23]  may become a unique window into
technologies developed on Earth in the 20th [24]  and early 21st centuries
[25] .

                  Tomorrow's picture: heart of the heart [26]

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    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff [38] (MTU [39] ) & Jerry Bonnell [40]
                                  (UMCP [41] )
          NASA Official:  Phillip Newman Specific rights apply [42] .
              NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices [43]
              A service of: ASD [44]  at NASA [45]  / GSFC [46]
                           & Michigan Tech. U. [47]
----------
Site notes:
  [1] archivepix.html
  [2] image/1802/CarEarth_SpaceX_1920.jpg
  [3] https://www.flickr.com/photos/spacex/
  [4] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbSwFU6tY1c&t=21m30s
  [5] http://www.spacex.com/
  [6] http://www.spacex.com/falcon-heavy
  [7] https://space.jpl.nasa.gov/
  [8] http://www.welikeviral.com/files/2016/11/1-22-5.jpg
  [9] https://www.tesla.com/roadster
  [10] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mannequin#/media/File:Gliederpuppe.png
  [11] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sI66hcu9fIs
  [12] https://www.flickr.com/photos/spacex/40143096241/in/dateposted/
  [13] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBr2kKAHN6M
  [14] ap180210.html
  [15] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elon_Musk%27s_Tesla_Roadster
  [16] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8l121LGlWU
  [17] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_KXgFpguE0
  [18] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Solar_System_probes
  [19] ap100713.html
  [20] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asteroid_belt
  [21] https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/solar-system/sun/overview/
  [22] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun#After_core_hydrogen_exhaustion
  [23]
https://www.livescience.com/61680-will-spacex-roadster-survive-in-space.html
  [24] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_technology#20th_century
  [25] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_technology#21st_century
  [26] ap180214.html
  [27] ap180212.html
  [28] archivepix.html
  [29] lib/apsubmit2015.html
  [30] lib/aptree.html
  [31] https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  [32] calendar/allyears.html
  [33] /apod.rss
  [34] lib/edlinks.html
  [35] lib/about_apod.html
  [36] http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=180213
  [37] ap180214.html
  [38] http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  [39] http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  [40] https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html
  [41] http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  [42] lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  [43] https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html
  [44] https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  [45] https://www.nasa.gov/
  [46] https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  [47] http://www.mtu.edu/
