Russia Successfully Launched A Toy Car Into Space To Mock Elon Musk

Back in Feb 2018, SpaceX of Elon Musk launched its Falcon Heavy and placed a red Tesla Roadster. In the driver’s seat was a mannequin dressed in a space suit.

It seems like the stunt from SpaceX left a great impression on a group of Russian scientists. And the team decided to make a response by launching their own red car into space.

But rather than being an homage to Elon Musk, the project’s details make it seem like a mockery.

While SpaceX placed a full-sized car with a mannequin called “Starman” into orbit, the Tomsk State University’s team used a toy car for the launch.

And it isn’t just any toy car.

It was actually a copy of the red Zhiguli which is owned by Dmitry Rogozin, Russian Roscosmos space agency’s director-general.

And as if it weren’t enough, before an automatic stratosat launched it 150 kilometers into space, the scientists even placed a small cutout of Rogozin himself right in the driver’s seat.

However, unlike Starman, the Rogozin replica has taken a trip back to Mother Earth. After around 16 hours of flight, the car landed about 2,000 kilometers away from the launch site.