February 15, 2018

There Is A Secret Message Hidden On Board The Tesla Floating Through Space

If you missed the launch of the Falcon Heavy rocket yesterday, stop what you’re doing and watch it. As if launching the most powerful rocket of all time wasn’t enough, the launch was followed by successful vertical landings of two out of the three boosters.

And if that wasn’t enough, the payload, a Tesla car with a mannequin in the driving seat, then flew around in space with Earth in the background to the tune of David Bowie’s Starman. It. Was. Awesome.

Here is Starman as he floats through space in his car, which was originally planned to head to Mars.

The launch was streamed live across the world and left people in awe.

Unfortunately, nobody has told Starman that he’s going to miss Mars and is headed for the asteroid belt, but he’ll find out in good time. Hopefully, when he does, he’ll be calmed by the “DON’T PANIC!” sign on the dashboard.

Speaking of secrets, Elon Musk hid a message aboard his space car, which will travel with Spaceman until his ultimate demise many years in the future. If he is found at any point (maybe by aliens) and they pull apart the car (maybe for spare parts to repair their own Teslas) they’ll be greeted by this message.

Elon revealed what that message was last night in an Instagram post.

“Made on Earth by humans” is hidden within the circuit board of Starman’s car. It will drift with Starman through space for millions or perhaps billions of years, assuming he doesn’t get taken out by the asteroid belt.

This is by no means the first message we’ve sent into space, but a car flying with a mannequin driver may be the most confusing one to date. The golden records aboard the spacecraft Voyager 1 and 2 are filled with 115 images of life on Earth, printed messages from the ex-UN Secretary-General, Kurt Waldheim, and former president, Jimmy Carter, as well as animal sounds, human music from various cultures and eras, and spoken greetings in 55 different languages. It also contains instructions on how to get here, though it turns out these may be flawed

No car, though, and no Bowie.