Less than 24 hours after the International Astronomical Union’s Minor Planet Center announced the discovery of a new asteroid, they said it was actually Musk's car.

The case of mistaken identity was quickly resolved, but astronomers say it shows the need for transparency around craft in deep space.

It doesn't matter what Musk really meant with this salute. Robotaxis are exclusively a product for large urban areas, and that population largely didn't like it at all.

The newly discovered asteroid, named 2018 CN41, turned out to be a Tesla launched into space by SpaceX in 2018.

A strange object recently spotted orbiting Earth has been identified as a Tesla Roadster. Initially classified as asteroid "2018 CN41" by the Minor Planet Center (MPC) on January 2, 2025, the object was discovered by an amateur astronomer based in Turkey.

Some time ago, astronomers from Harvard University announced the discovery of a new celestial object named 2018 CN41. However, they later had to retract the statement, explaining it was actually one of Elon Musk's cars.