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If Starman is heading to Mars, why is he still spinning so we see the earth? Shouldn't he always be pointing away from the earth?

Stevoisiak
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v15
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    @osgx This comment should be an/the answer. At the time of the stream the roadster was not heading to Mars but merely waiting in earth orbit for the next burn. And after the burn its orientation or rotation doesn't really matter any more. This isn't Star Wars where you somehow need your engines to maintain speed, they are only used for relatively short durations to accelerate. – linac Feb 07 '18 at 11:57
  • This question doesn't really make any sense if you haven't been following SpaceX's activity. – JMK Feb 07 '18 at 12:42

2 Answers2

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Starman and its stylish choice of transportation are sitting atop the second stage:

enter image description here source

The stage itself may be using spin stabilization, which helps by providing gyroscopic stability and thermal distribution. If you observe the live feed, you may notice that it is spinning in a counter-clockwise motion.

Once disconnected from the second stage, the payload may preserve the original momentum.

OnoSendai
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    Ono, where is the sound in the live feed? – osgx Feb 07 '18 at 01:13
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    @osgx While it would theoretically be possible to capture vibrations transmitted by the structure itself, I fear our brave Starman is right now in a medium devoid of enough air to transmit acoustic waves. A pity, I know; It probably would like to have Rocket Man blasting through the void. – OnoSendai Feb 07 '18 at 01:17
  • So, for clarification, is the entire stage itself spinning? Or is the car on a platform that is rotating? – v15 Feb 07 '18 at 03:17
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    @hwp08 yes, the whole stage is spinning, albeit slowly. – OnoSendai Feb 07 '18 at 04:03
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    @hwp08 its like a screw. the booster is where the screwdriver goes and the car punctures the wood – zoplonix Feb 07 '18 at 06:36
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    Will the payload disconnect from the second stage? Or is it bolted on? What happens to the second stage? Will it stay in orbit forever? – nmit026 Feb 08 '18 at 01:11
  • @nmit026 yes. The car itself is connected to an adapter, but the adapter disconnected from the 2nd stage: http://www.collectspace.com/images/news-020618a-lg.jpg – OnoSendai Feb 08 '18 at 03:39
  • This answer says they're still connected: https://space.stackexchange.com/a/24793/15719 – nmit026 Feb 08 '18 at 03:56
  • So does this article: https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/02/06/you-wont-believe-what-happens-to-that-tesla-roadster-inside-todays-spacex-launch/ Thanks for your original answer about spin. – nmit026 Feb 08 '18 at 04:00
  • @nmit026 oh, you're right - my original source was corrected too. Thanks for pointing that out. – OnoSendai Feb 08 '18 at 06:37
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And though from our point of view Starman is spinning in motion ...He is still moving in a trajectory away from earth ....very slowly from the cameras point of view . He will be at Mars in October 2018 .

Watch this Video to further Understand how this works :

Umanfly
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