When SpaceX first tested its powerful Falcon Heavy rocket booster in early 2018, Elon Musk decided to use his own Tesla Roadster as a payload. No one knew if the rocket would successfully lift off, or blow up, so using Musk’s first-generation electric car was probably more promotional theater than anything else. Also onboard the flight -- which is now in elliptical orbit around the Sun -- was a secret stash designed to last millions of years: A one-inch (2.54-cm) diameter quartz crystal disk created by the Arch Mission Foundation, containing Isaac Asimov’s iconic Foundation series of books. Outer space’s first permanent library was Arch’s way of creating a permanent archive of human knowledge.
Ground Control to Major Tom:
- Published in the early 1950s, Asimov’s popular sci-fi trilogy -- Foundation, Foundation and Empire and Second Foundation -- depicts a futuristic world seen through the eyes of “psychohistorian” Hari Seldon.
- In the planning stages, SpaceX’s Musk admitted the launch was risky, and vowed to send up “the silliest thing we can imagine.” A Twitter follower suggested his midnight cherry-colored Tesla, and the idea clicked.
- In the driver’s seat is a full-size mannequin dubbed “Starman,” wearing a SpaceX pressure suit. The car’s sound system was set to play the David Bowie song “Space Oddity” on a continuous loop.