The first few launches of a new vehicle are risky. Even some of the most mature launch platforms still fail 2-10% of the time after hundreds of launches, but a new platform needs a period to discover all the failure modes that they didn't hypothesize. Usually for the very first proving launch, commercial customers don't want to send anything, and insurers refuse to touch them.
So launch providers typically send a block of concrete, or something similar, and call it a 'Mass Simulator', to prove that the launch vehicle can function with a load that heavy.
Elon Musk literally thought 'Hey, the Tesla Roadster I've been driving would be a cool thing to send into space as a mass simulator.' And so he did. With a mannequin inside a production Tesla spacesuit. Blaring David Bowie the whole way. Aiming roughly at Mars and burning until the propellant runs out.
Starman will be in heliocentric orbit indefinitely.
So launch providers typically send a block of concrete, or something similar, and call it a 'Mass Simulator', to prove that the launch vehicle can function with a load that heavy.
Elon Musk literally thought 'Hey, the Tesla Roadster I've been driving would be a cool thing to send into space as a mass simulator.' And so he did. With a mannequin inside a production Tesla spacesuit. Blaring David Bowie the whole way. Aiming roughly at Mars and burning until the propellant runs out.
Starman will be in heliocentric orbit indefinitely.