Oops! Astronomers Mistake Elon Musk's Tesla Roadster for Asteroid

Seven years after Elon Musk launched his Tesla Roadster into space, astronomers at the Minor Planet Center at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Massachusetts briefly mistook it for a newly discovered asteroid. Can you imagine being the scientist who had to make *that* correction? The object, initially registered as 2018 CN41, was removed from the registry on January 3rd after it was identified as Musk's iconic roadster. According to the center's website, the designation was deleted because "it was pointed out the orbit matches an artificial object, 2018-017A, Falcon Heavy Upper stage with the Tesla Roadster. The designation 2018 CN41 is being deleted and will be listed as omitted." SpaceX launched the Tesla Roadster on the maiden flight of the Falcon Heavy rocket in February 2018. The plan was for the roadster to enter an elliptical orbit around the sun, venturing slightly beyond Mars and then back towards Earth. However, it exceeded Mars' orbit and continued toward the asteroid belt, according to Musk. When the roadster was mistaken for an asteroid, it was less than 150,000 miles from Earth, closer than the moon's orbit, according to Astronomy Magazine. This proximity would typically warrant close monitoring. Center for Astrophysics (CfA) astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell highlighted the potential issues with untracked objects. "Worst case, you spend a billion launching a space probe to study an asteroid and only realize it’s not an asteroid when you get there," he told Astronomy magazine. Seriously, that would be a plot twist worthy of a sci-fi movie!