As Elon Musk presented a Tesla Roadster demonstration at a SpaceX test site in Texas on Thursday, 15 October, a Smithsonian aviation curator questioned whether the vehicle's brief airborne manoeuvres amounted to genuine flight.
'We are literally talking about hopping,' Roger Connor told CNN. The demonstration featured a vehicle that appeared to launch into the air, flip, and land using a propulsion system Musk described. Yet the spectacle did not establish whether the Roadster could sustain controlled flight, travel meaningful distances through the air or function as a practical flying car.
