---
title: "If Asteroids Don’t Destroy Elon Musk’s Space Tesla, Radiation Will, Experts Say"
description: "But as Live Science reported, big space rocks aren't really its most significant threat. No, that would be good old radiation, which has the potential to mostly disintegrate the Tesla Roadster within a year or two, according to William Carroll, an Indiana University chemist and molecular expert."
date: "2018-02-07"
modified: "2018-02-07"
authors:
  - name: "Kyle Cheromcha"
    job_title: "Editor-in-Chief"
    link: "https://www.thedrive.com/authors/kyle-cheromcha"
url: "https://www.thedrive.com/news/18301/if-asteroids-dont-destroy-elon-musks-space-tesla-radiation-will-experts-say"
categories:
  - "Car Tech"
  - "Electric Vehicles"
  - "News"
  - "News by Brand"
  - "Tesla News"
tags:
  - "Electric Vehicle"
  - "Elon Musk"
  - "falcon heavy"
  - "Roadster"
  - "space"
  - "SpaceX"
  - "Tesla"
---

# If Asteroids Don’t Destroy Elon Musk’s Space Tesla, Radiation Will, Experts Say

![](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/images-by-url-td/content/2018/02/tesla-space.jpg>)
*\<em\>www.thedrive.com</em>*

Space: The final frontier. These are the voyages of the Tesla Roadster. Its billion-year mission: To circle the sun, to hopefully not crash into Mars, to boldly go where no car has gone before.

That is, unless the cosmic radiation eats it first.

Elon Musk's old Roadster [became the first car in history to be blasted into space](<https://www.thedrive.com/news/18291/spacex-successfully-launches-elon-musks-roadster-toward-mars>) on Tuesday, riding the successful test launch of the Falcon Heavy mega rocket to an orbital path that's projected to send it out to Mars—or maybe even further. In a tweet, Musk reported that the "third burn" procedure to push the Roadster out of Earth's orbit worked a little too well, with the trajectory now slated to reach the edge of the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. ([Someone didn't listen to C-3PO.](<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPB6AlNRRtQ>))

https://twitter.com/_/status/961083704230674438

[But as *Live Science* reported,](<https://www.livescience.com/61680-will-spacex-roadster-survive-in-space.html>) big space rocks aren't really the most significant threat to the spacefaring sports car. No, that would be good ol' radiation, which has the potential to mostly disintegrate the Tesla Roadster within a year or two, according to William Carroll, an Indiana University chemist and molecular expert. Without the protection afforded by the Earth's atmosphere and magnetic field, the Roadster will be bombarded by radiation that will eventually tear apart anything not made of metal on the car.

"All of the organics will be subjected to degradation by the various kinds of radiation that you will run into there," Carroll said, noting that the term "organics" in this case includes not only fabric and leather but all plastic components as well as the car's [carbon fiber](<https://www.thedrive.com/news/16754/gm-reportedly-moving-to-carbon-fiber-beds-in-the-great-pickup-truck-arms-race>) body. "Those organics, in that environment, I wouldn't give them a year."

https://youtube.com/embed/m2p55BmwmJM

Musk's cherry-red Tesla already survived a full blast of radiation as it traveled through the planet's Van Allen belt on its way out of Earth's orbit, but the extended timeline of its journey creates a much different situation; eventually, the spacefaring Roadster could wind up stripped down to its aluminum chassis. Any metal parts that do survive probably won't look exactly the same either; Carroll added that it would be nearly impossible to avoid micrometeoroids that will pockmark exposed surfaces a thousand times over.

[*Live Science* also got in touch](<https://www.livescience.com/61680-will-spacex-roadster-survive-in-space.html>) with Richard Sachleben, a member of the American Chemical Society's expert panel, who "largely agreed" with Carroll's points, though he thought the Tesla might stay intact for a little longer than a year. A direct impact with an asteroid could always change that timeline, though.

Then again, even if some future human (or alien) were pluck it out of orbit and haul it home to see if it still works, it wouldn't run: [Musk & Co. reportedly stripped](<https://www.motortrend.com/news/like-rocket-story-behind-spacexs-plan-launch-tesla-roadster-space/>) the car's powertrain entirely before mounting it on the rocket.

## Author
Overseeing an expert staff of writers and editors from his lair in Los Angeles, Kyle shapes The Drive’s singular approach to covering the automotive industry and car culture. He’s been with the site as a writer since 2017, taking over as editor in 2019. On a daily basis, Kyle is responsible for directing The Drive's editorial news and car review content strategies, setting special coverage priorities, managing complex reporting projects, and ensuring what you read on the page meets our high internal standards for quality and trustworthiness. He is also the executive producer of The Drive's YouTube channel, which was relaunched in February 2024 to great acclaim and has accumulated over 14M new views in its first year back on the scene. He hosts a biweekly series on the channel where he breaks down fascinating and complicated stories from the automotive world.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/kylecheromcha.bsky.social>)  
[Instagram](<https://www.instagram.com/kylecheromcha>)  
[LinkedIn](<https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyle-cheromcha-1550248a/>)