And the purpose of blasting a Roadster into Geosynchronous orbit is....

[strider]

Yep. Tons of free publicity and it just made the value of my car go up as there are now fewer of them available

 

[jerjozwik]

Not to mention how this has sparked the imagination of kids everywhere ... it's amazing.

this is my favorite takeaway. my sister emailed me yesterday asking where she could find a print quality image for her son's bedroom wall. he thought it was really cool to see a car in space.

 

[Icer]

this is my favorite takeaway. my sister emailed me yesterday asking where she could find a print quality image for her son's bedroom wall. he thought it was really cool to see a car in space.

MeToo
I was skeptical. Felt like a gimmick, and why does the car have to die?

I was wrong. Had no idea.
These images will be remembered by people from all over the world.
Instant icons.
It may be one of those moments where everyone remembers where they were?
Great.

 

[pakman00]

It's not geosynchronous. It's a deep space orbit around the sun that will take it to the asteroid belt

wonder how that soft California paint will hold up... hope he had it wrapped...

 

[nsxpert]

History was made!

....This will be the first Roadster that's free of rattles and creaks

 

[bonnie]

wonder how that soft California paint will hold up... hope he had it wrapped...

This is a custom paint job, I've spent time with that particular Roadster. It's kind of a candy apple red, multi layers - hard to explain how deep it is. No idea if it's CA-compliant paint. But it should hold up pretty well .

 

[jbcarioca]

You need to simulate cargo with mass. Most missions use dead weight. Sure they could have put up a satellite, but who is paying for a satellite that has a reasonable chance of being destroyed? Also space x is demoing their ability to fly through the van Allen radiation belt.

Yes, we do know that 6-hour coast and subsequent relight were part of the DOD test specifications. That was rational and pragmatic.
As for Douglas Adams, David Bowie, Spaceman and the Red Roadster? Those were promotional genius! If you must have a dummy payload find a way to gain a $100 million promotional value.

 

[mspohr]

History was made!

....This will be the first Roadster that's free of rattles and creaks

In space, no one can hear you scream.

 

[mspohr]

Yes, we do know that 6-hour coast and subsequent relight were part of the DOD test specifications. That was rational and pragmatic.
As for Douglas Adams, David Bowie, Spaceman and the Red Roadster? Those were promotional genius! If you must have a dummy payload find a way to gain a $100 million promotional value.

Considering that Dodge spent millions on a dud superbowl ad, I think Elon is a genius.

 

[Roadster]

I think this Reddit post sums things up adequately:

Kim Jong-un at some point had to sit down and reflect upon the fact that he is engaging in a flexing contest with a country that just had a civilian send a rocket into space, with his car on it. • r/Showerthoughts

 

[Tex EV]

Elon finally had enough of TPMS rearing its ugly head.

 

[n2mb_racing]

It is actually a 2010 2.0 that had updates to make it look like a 2.5 ( what some called a 2.25 )

So, I was wondering about this. Why would Elon's Roadster be a 2010? I thought he would have had one of the first ones to roll off the line, likely similar to a 2008. Unless he swapped it out, or they just sent a different roadster up? I don't care either way, but it would be interesting to know which one was sent.

Also, does our resale value go up, now that we own the only *production* car to ever go to space? (Can't say only car, or even only electric car: moon rover).

 

[TEG]

He had at least 2 Roadsters. There was a black 2008 " Founders' Series #1 " that he had before getting the 2010 Roadster Sport.

I know he bought a model S, and model 3, and probably other cars I don't know about.

And, yes, he followed company policy to buy the vehicles himself. They didn't give him free cars... Although, he probably gets to borrow a lot of prototypes and loaner vehicles whenever he needs to check out something.

 

[Uncle Paul]

Those pictures of the Roadster and Starman with the beautiful Earth floating in the background are perhaps the most beautiful selfie ever taken.

 

[Stewie26]

Yep. Tons of free publicity and it just made the value of my car go up as there are now fewer of them available

Well I can testify that I just bought a roaster because of the pre-launch publicity. With that said, I did not buy the roadster for the possibility of financial gain. It was just that I had completely forgot that Tesla made a roaster. When I read the SpaceX press release a month or so ago, I said to myself that I wanted a roadster so I started my hunt for one. Who knows. There may be others out there like me.

 

[SpiceWare]

this is my favorite takeaway. my sister emailed me yesterday asking where she could find a print quality image for her son's bedroom wall. he thought it was really cool to see a car in space.

I check APOD everyday to get images that are randomly selected every 30 minutes for the desktops on my two 4K monitors. I just pinged SpaceX that they should submit some Starman images.

Left monitor:


Right monitor

 

[gavine]

Looks like the Stig from Top Gear

 

[SpiceWare]

Looks like the Stig from Top Gear

More like Grimaldi from Heavy Metal.

 

[Xenoilphobe]

Not to mention how this has sparked the imagination of kids everywhere ... it's amazing.

This kid loves it too!!!

 

[hitekredneck]

How long did the car take to go from 0-60mph? I assume it was uncorked.