SpaceX Starman in Tesla Roadster has passed beyond the orbit of Mars

The lonely explorer has been drifting alone in the cosmos for months now, never to return to Earth. Now, SpaceX's Starman has even passed the orbit of Mars.

In February, the first test flight of SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket carried a unique cargo: the Elon Musk Cherry Tesla Roadster carrying Starman, a model wearing one of the company's prototype spacesuits. Starman and the Roadster will drift around the solar system for millions of years. SpaceX Just to be announced that Starman overtook Mars for the first time.

The manikin and the car will spend all this time adrift between Earth and Mars, sometimes approaching but never turning around a planet, in what is called a trans-Mars injection orbit. This orbit facilitates the transfer of spaceships between our neighborhood and the red planet. On Friday, the lone craft completed the first leg of this trip while it was past the orbit of Mars.

SpaceX decided to use Starman and a Tesla Roadster for the test payload (instead of a traditional one like a concrete block), partly because it was fun, but also to test the prototype of space suit that Starman wears. As part of NASA's Commercial Crew program, SpaceX will send astronauts to the International Space Station and they will wear this space suit. It is SpaceX's chance to test the combination in the empty space.

In the future, SpaceX hopes to use the Falcon Heavy to launch larger satellites in Earth orbit and Mars missions. The second rocket launch test is currently scheduled for 2019, although the payload is not known.