Rob Verger, assistant tech editor at Popular Science, discusses SpaceX's successful launch of the Falcon Heavy rocket that propelled Elon Musk's red Tesla Roadster into orbit. The release of the car into space has prompted people to ask the question, "what now?"
Verger notes that it will take two and a half years for the rocket to orbit around the sun and end up back where it started from. It will be another five years before we could potentially see it with a telescope.
Verger says the Roadster will face significant deterioration due to radiation and a "sandblasting" of dust that will cause the car to lose its cherry red color. He talks about the vastness of space, noting it's unlikely the car would be destroyed by an asteroid.
Scientists have discovered a new asteroid that's been tagging along with Earth for the past 2,000 years. The space rock is called a "quasi-moon," since it's only slightly influenced by the Earth's gravitational pull, but it still makes the journey around the sun much like the earth does.
Earth has pushed past seven out of eight scientifically established safety limits and into “the danger zone,” not just for an overheating planet that's losing its natural areas, but for the well-being of people living on it, according to a new study.