Look, up in the sky, it’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s a… Tesla?” Recently the Minor Planet Center (MPC) announced the discovery of a new asteroid – 2018 CN41. Its orbit was closer than that of the Moon making it a near-Earth object and subject to the attention of scientists because it may someday hit the Earth.

Less than 24 hours after the Minor Planet Center announced a new asteroid, it said the object was actually Musk's electric car launched into space as payload on a rocket.

Elon Musk's company made a splash during the presentation of the Tesla Semi electric truck, unexpectedly showing the concept of the second series of the famous Roadster model. With an acceleration from 0 to 60 mph in 1.

Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

Musk's car was accidentally and briefly classified as an asteroid in 2025. The International Astronomical Union's Minor Planet Center issued a bulletin on Jan. 2 announcing 2018 CN41 as a newly discovered near-Earth object.

In 2018, during the launch of the SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket, Elon Musk sent a Tesla Roadster into space, which later led to some confusion.