'The Simpsons' Sort of Predicted Elon Musk's Car in Space

The Simpsons predicted the future again. Sort of.Elon Musk, CEO of both SpaceX and Tesla, launched [...]

The Simpsons predicted the future again. Sort of.

Elon Musk, CEO of both SpaceX and Tesla, launched a Tesla Roadster into space on first-ever Falcon Heavy rocket. The red Roadster is being "driven" by a spacesuit-clad mannequin nicknamed Starman as it pushed past Mars' orbit heading to an eventual destiny with the Asteroid Belt. It sounds like something that is so unlikely that no one but Musk could have ever have dreamed it up, but it turns out that The Simpsons might have had at least some of the same idea.

One sharp-eyed Reddit user shared an image comparing a still from an episode of The Simpsons with an image of Starman in the Tesla, revealing some interesting similarities between the two. As you can see in the post below, while The Simpsons don't have a car in space, they do have an astronaut clad in a spacesuit behind the wheel of a red convertible, an image that is very similar to Musk's Starman in Tesla -- even if The Simpsons' space man is wielding a golf club.

These Simpsons predictions are getting out of hand. from r/funny

The Simpsons still comes from the long-running Fox show's season ten episode "Screaming Yellow Honkers" from 1999 in which Marge develops road rage while driving her new SUV and is sent to driving school. The angry astronaut is featured in a video shown to the class and, as you might guess, the earthbound astronaut is in full-on road rage, no launch into space required.

While this doesn't exactly match up enough to count as a full Simpsons prediction come true, the show has an eerie track record of accurately portraying future events and developments during its nearly three decades on air. The groundbreaking animated series has notably predicted things like the Apple Watch, Lady Gaga's Super Bowl performance, Greece's economic collapse and even Donald Trump's presidency with a surprising level of accuracy. Most recently, Disney's plan to purchase entertainment assets from 21st Century Fox. Given how accurate The Simpsons has been about many of its other predictions, even Comcast reportedly trying to outbid Disney for Fox may not stop the future. The Simpson's prediction firmly declares that 20th Century Fox is "a division of Walt Disney Co."

As for the Simpsons/Elon Musk connection, Musk himself has appeared on the series. The inventor and futurist guest starred in 2015's season 26 episode "The Musk Who Fell to Earth" which, interestingly enough, featured Musk-invented self-driving cars which Lisa and Bart take for a joyride, just not into space.

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