This is Science Friday. I'm Iroflato. SpaceX has been testing all sorts of rockets since it was founded over 15 years ago.

And this week, the company launched a car, Tesla, into space, with its Falcon Heavy Rocket. Is this the most expensive cross-marketing campaign or what?

Sophie Bushwick, senior editor at Popular Science, is here to tell us what this means for

Space X's future, all part of a bunch of selected short subjects in science.

Good to have you back, Sophie.

Thanks for having me.

A car in space.

The pictures of it are amazing.

This car with the earth behind it.

I mean, the best advertising in the world.

And where is it headed? It actually launched it toward Mars. Is that where it? with the earth behind it. I mean, the best advertising in the world.

And where is it headed? It actually launched it toward Mars. Is that where the car? The goal was to put it in orbit around Mars, but they overshot a little bit. So now, instead of going to Mars, the car and its passenger, it's this mannequin and a spacesuit they call Starman, it'll be going to the asteroid belt instead. You know, one of the things that struck me as someone who's grown up, but the whole space

race is the return of the boosters. I think this is a first in all of history to have two

boosters returning landing virtually at the same time. It was amazing. There was something almost

balletic about it, these two enormous, absolutely massive boosters just slowly landing in sync.

And unfortunately, the third booster was supposed to also land on a drone ship and that one missed.

But just the two that did land together was incredibly impressive.

It's just amazing.

You know, one wonder is because we know Tesla is having trouble getting its cars built and, you know, made cheaply enough and having them sold. Maybe there's something that will leak over from the rocket factory. I mean. We'll make them, make them faster. Maybe if they make more parts of them reusable. I don't know. I don't know. Maybe if they start, you know, trying to launch them into space more. That's the delivery thing.

You got it.

I think we figured that out.

Delivery from low Earth orbit.

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