NBC

What Will Happen to the Tesla SpaceX Shot Into Space?

A NASA physicist estimated that the Roadster has traveled about 450,000 miles from Earth

After the Tesla Roadster hitched a ride into orbit on SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket Tuesday, experts are predicting smooth sailing for the cherry red convertible, NBC News reported.

The car's current trajectory will take it beyond mars and into the asteroid belt in its planned orbit around the sun, according to a diagram tweeted by SpaceX CEO Elon Musk. But scientists say it is unlikely the car will encounter anything beyond ultraviolet radiation, cosmic rays, other highly charged particles or an occasional micrometeoroid.

As a result, ongoing exposure to UV light will cause the car's paint to fade over time, just as cars here on Erth do.

A NASA physicist estimated that the Roadster has traveled about 450,000 miles from Earth, or roughly twice the distance from Earth to the moon, as of Wednesday afternoon.

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