The car was purely a publicity stunt. The mission of this launch was to

test the launch vehicle. Devoting additional money and resources to developing an actual payload would have risked delays to the real mission of launch vehicle development.

In response to this post by HokieSignGuy

Posted: 02/08/2018 at 10:05AM

Last image of Starman, and questions for you space nerds... -- JoesterVT 02/08/2018 09:16AM

Due to the lower (none) pressure in space... -- Old Village Hokie 02/08/2018 3:36PM

Star Trek Voyager found one that had been floating in space since 1937 -- Hokerer 02/08/2018 10:51AM

In 1937, they were all metal anyway. ** -- Late 80s Hokie 02/08/2018 12:46PM

I read that the radiation does severe damage to the organic materials -- ME Hokie 07 02/08/2018 09:50AM

It's likely it will hit something? -- Hokie CPA 02/08/2018 4:51PM

The car only had 12 hours of battery power onboard . ** -- NWHokie 02/08/2018 09:47AM

I was surprised to read this. Not sure why they didn't put longer lasting -- HokieSignGuy 02/08/2018 09:59AM

The car was purely a publicity stunt. The mission of this launch was to -- Hokie360 02/08/2018 10:05AM

Yeah, I get that part of it... I've been following the whole thing, and -- HokieSignGuy 02/08/2018 10:29AM

I'm sure NASA mandated a short time limit for the live feed -- JoesterVT 02/08/2018 10:42AM

Starman had to take a leak at the last rest stop, and spacecraft left him. ** -- Hokie360 02/08/2018 09:45AM

Two answers: -- Freddyburg Hokie 02/08/2018 09:24AM

Cars aren't made to withstand radiation like a spacecraft ** -- hokeyhokie 02/08/2018 09:21AM

This is what I assumed....but... -- JoesterVT 02/08/2018 09:34AM

The foil is MLI (multi layer insulation), and helps control the temperature -- Hokie360 02/08/2018 09:42AM

The car is made mostly of plastic material, unlike the satellite ** -- hokeyhokie 02/08/2018 09:40AM

The car was purely a publicity stunt. The mission of this launch was to

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