How long will it take Starman to reach the asteroid belt?

The Tesla Roadster and "Starman" dummy that SpaceX launched on its new Falcon Heavy rocket on Tuesday (Feb. 6) does not appear to be heading to the asteroid belt, despite what SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk said on Twitter Tuesday evening. read more

Consisting of millions of objects that range in size from hundreds of kilometers in diameter (like Ceres and Vesta) to one kilometer or more, the Asteroid Belt has long been a source of fascination for astronomers. read more

The asteroid belt is a sparsely populated region of space between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. Contrary to what you often see in popular depictions, the belt is not jam-packed with huge boulders that are constantly bumping into each other. From any given asteroid, you might not even be able to see your nearest neighbor. read more

Its farthest distance from the sun will be approximately 158 million miles, which it will reach on November 19. Wednesday night, SpaceX shared revised orbital data that confirmed Musk's original chart was incorrect. McDowell explained on Twitter that Starman will likely miss the asteroid belt, Mars, and Earth for the forseeable future. read more