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

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 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.)

But as Live Science reported, 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 body. "Those organics, in that environment, I wouldn't give them a year."

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 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 the car's powertrain entirely before mounting it on the rocket.