Tesla may become first car ever hit by meteorite after mysterious object falls from sky
SMRTR summary
A Tesla's windscreen partially melted and glass exploded inside the cabin when something hot and mysterious struck the vehicle during a nighttime drive on a South Australian highway. The car kept driving in self-driving mode, completely unaware of the chaos unfolding inside.
Dr. Andrew Melville-Smith was traveling the Augusta Highway on October 19 when he heard what he called an "enormous explosion." Glass flew everywhere, white smoke filled the car, and his wife thought they were on fire. "The car was driving along and unconcerned... it wasn't aware of the chaos that was going on in the cabin," he said.
The South Australian Museum is investigating whether a meteorite hit the moving vehicle, which would be a world first. "The odds of that happening are just phenomenally low," said museum mineralogist Kieran Meaney.
But experts remain skeptical. A meteorite impact should have created a fireball visible for hundreds of kilometers, and meteorites are typically cold when they reach Earth, not hot enough to melt glass.
The mystery continues as scientists analyze the windscreen for extraterrestrial particles.
SMRTR provides this summary for quick context. The original article belongs to Interesting Engineering.
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