Bizarre

It’s a Plane, It’s a Comet . . . No, It’s Musk’s Roadster
SpaceX Photo

On Jan. 2, the Minor Planet Center at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Massachusetts, announced the discovery of an unusual asteroid, designated 2018 CN41.

No, that is not the name of the latest Musk child as a companion to X Æ A-Xii. However, it is Musk’s Tesla Roadster still cruising around space and briefly classified as a new comet. So much for concern over cold weather and battery time.

The new comet was first noted by amateur scientist H. A. Güler, when it came less than 150,000 miles (240,000 km) from Earth, closer than the orbit of the Moon.

That distance qualified it as a near-Earth object (NEO) and it was given an official designation.

Within 24 hours, however, the Minor Planet Center (MPC) issued an editorial notice: It deleted 2018 CN41 from its records because it is Musk’s car.

Güler took it in stride, writing:

“I’m thinking the holy grail could be a beautiful comet, an interstellar visitor, or an alien spacecraft like in [Arthur C.] Clarke’s book Rendezvous with Rama, heh 🙂 None of that might happen, but that won’t stop me from dreaming about it. Realistically, at this point in time I will settle for anything that’s not a car.”

For the rest of us, it was the most exciting sighting since the Mercury Comet was first spotted outside Detroit in 1960.

15 thoughts on “It’s a Plane, It’s a Comet . . . No, It’s Musk’s Roadster”

  3. Dear Prof Turley,

    That’s some sh!t ain’t it! Elon is a crazy bas****d .. . but he’s got good manners.

    A man that elegant needs to be saved.

    *Rocketman .. . crank it up

  5. I love it. The Professor shows his humor and we are the better for it. I especially liked the reference to the name of the object and it not being the name of Elon’s most recent child.
    Nothing wrong with some good humor.

  6. “For the rest of us, it was the most exciting sighting since the Mercury Comet was first spotted outside Detroit in 1960”

    Sorry, lost me with that one. The Mercury Comet was nothing but a trim-enhanced Ford Falcon 🙂

        1. Floyd drove his Mercury Comet to the Seattle World’s Fair in 1962. There’s a photo of him standing in front of it with the Space Needle in back.

      2. I had a 1961 Falcon with the little (144 cu in) 6, three-on-the-tree (no synchromesh on 1st gear), and bald tires. I took that car from NJ to Southern California in 1969, and back about 2 months later. Had never driven anywhere that wasn’t flat as a billiard table before that. Turned out to be quite an adventure, but I won’t bore anyone here with any more of it.

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