THE ONLY AUTOMOBILE TO ORBIT THE EARTH

Let's put an automobile into orbit. It could be taken up by the Space Shuttle and dropped off into orbit with its engine running and lights on. Inside and out of sight would be a box of instruments to monitor the changes in the car and to provide a signal of its location. Would the engine continue running at all without oxygen? What would happen to the tires inflated with 35 p.s.i. of air? The car windows of course would be slightly open to prevent any pressure damage. After dropping the car off into space, photographs of it would be taken from the Shuttle for publicity purposes, and this publicity is the reason that much or all of the project would be financed by the company that manufactures and sells the model of the car.

It would orbit the Earth several times, or longer, and then somehow be made to re-enter the atmosphere, testing how much of it burns up on reentry, and plunge to a specified location in a U.S. desert. Surely we have the technology to do this. The box in the car may be equipped to survive both the reentry and the impact. There wouldn't be much left of the car, but this too would be interesting, and its remains could be put on display by the company or NASA.

The sales prompted by this fascinating publicity stunt should reimburse the cost of the project, especially if this car model is sold for a modest and affordable price. I would love to own the only car to orbit the Earth -- a new Mercury Meteor or Comet, or new Plymouth Satellite, or an Orbit or Meteorite or I.F.O. made by another company that beats them out.




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