Links

SpaceX and Tesla

• SpaceX website
• Tesla website
• Tesla Roadster 2008 page at Wikipedia
• Elon Musk's Twitter page
• Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future a book by Ashlee Vance (on Amazon)
• The Space Barons: Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and the Quest to Colonize the Cosmos a book by Christian Davenport (on Amazon)
• Interview: Elon Musk on how Falcon Heavy will change space travel on Youtube
• Interview: Post-launch interview on Youtube

References

• Douglas Adams' The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Haven't read it yet? Don't panic, you can still get one on Amazon.
• Isaac Asimov's Foundation. This one is available on Amazon as well.
• Heavy Metal (1981) - Soft landing
• Dawid Bowie songs
  • Starman
  • Space Oddity
  • Life on Mars ?

Other simulations

• Interactive Animation of Tesla Roadster Trajectory from Heavens-Above.com
• Where is Elon Musk's Tesla Roadster with Starman? by Ben Pearson
• SpaceX Roadster (Starman) Sky Charts and Coordinates by TheSkyLive.com

Research Papers

• Rein, H., Tamayo, D., & Vokrouhlicky, D. (2018). The random walk of cars and their collision probabilities with planets. arXiv preprint arXiv:1802.04718.
  Abstract:

  On February 6th, 2018 SpaceX launched a Tesla Roadster on a Mars-crossing orbit. We perform N-body simulations to determine the fate of the object over the next 15 Myr. The orbital evolution is initially dominated by close encounters with the Earth. While a precise orbit can not be predicted beyond the next several centuries due to these repeated chaotic scatterings, one can reliably predict the long-term outcomes by statistically analyzing a large suite of possible trajectories with slightly perturbed initial conditions. Repeated gravitational scatterings with Earth lead to a random walk. Collisions with the Earth, Venus and the Sun represent primary sinks for the Roadster's orbital evolution. Collisions with Mercury and Mars, or ejections from the Solar System by Jupiter, are highly unlikely. We calculate a dynamical half-life of the Tesla of approximately 15 Myr, with some 22%, 12% and 12% of Roadster orbit realizations impacting the Earth, Venus, and the Sun within one half-life, respectively. Because the eccentricities and inclinations in our ensemble increase over time due to mean-motion and secular resonances, the impact rates with the terrestrial planets decrease beyond a few million years, whereas the impact rate on the Sun remains roughly constant.

Toys and models of Tesla Roadster and Starman

Plastic and die-cast toys

• Hot Wheels Tesla Roadster (2008 model) on Amazon
• Hot Wheels Tesla Roadster (2016 model) on Amazon. This one is cheaper.
• 1/144 Falcon Heavy kit by BUZZ Medialabs
• Hot Wheels Tesla Roadster Toy Celebrates SpaceX-Launched Car. Being sold on Amazon.

3D-printable toys

• Elon's Tesla Roadster by The-Senate
• SpaceX's Starman desk toy by VECTARY
• Starman by oranhunter
• SpaceX Falcon Heavy Expansion Kit for Falcon 9 Model by chemteacher628