SpaceX's Starship Could Rocket-Boost Research in Space

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September 16, 2021

Dear Reader, This week's most sensational space news is undoubtedly the launch of SpaceX's Inspiration4, the first-ever private all-civilian mission to low-Earth orbit. But the most revolutionary part of SpaceX's spaceflight plans is still on the ground: The company's huge, reusable Starship rocket, now in testing, may reach orbit later this year and could become the definitive vehicle for 21st century space transportation. Although Starship is meant to eventually ferry humans to the moon and even Mars, our lead story explains how this rocket's greatest impact may be in the new economy of scale it could offer for scientists seeking to launch Earth-observing satellites, space telescopes, and robotic interplanetary missions. Elsewhere, we have articles about the threat of solar superflares, a ghostly supernova, muon mysteries, and more!

Lee Billings, Senior Editor, Space & Physics @LeeBillings

Space Exploration SpaceX's Starship Could Rocket-Boost Research in Space The platform could aid climate science, space junk cleanup and planetary exploration By Maddie Bender

Planetary Science Solar 'Superflares' Rocked Earth Less Than 10,000 Years Ago--and Could Strike Again Although our sun is considered a quiet star, it is now thought to have repeatedly pelted our planet with enormous eruptions in the not too distant past. Could another occur in the near future? By Jonathan O'Callaghan

Mathematics Infinity Category Theory Offers a Bird's-Eye View of Mathematics Mathematicians have expanded category theory into infinite dimensions, revealing new connections among mathematical concepts By Emily Riehl

Space Exploration SpaceX Launches Four Civilians into Orbit on Historic Inspiration4 Flight The crew will spend the next few days in space before returning to Earth in the fully autonomous Dragon module By Amy Thompson,SPACE.com

Space Exploration SpaceX's Inspiration4 Mission Launches Today. Here's How to Watch The three-day orbital voyage of the all-civilian crew will be a historic milestone for human spaceflight By Amy Thompson,SPACE.com

Extraterrestrial Life Note to Branson and Bezos: Extraterrestrials Will Not Be Impressed If they exist, they'll find our puny forays into space completely insignificant By Avi Loeb

Extraterrestrial Life Looking for Interstellar Monuments An ancient civilization from a distant star could have created immortal machines to roam the Milky Way and keep its legacy alive By Avi Loeb

Astronomy This Supernova Will Make a Ghostly Reappearance in 2037 A chance celestial alignment is allowing astronomers to witness a distant star's explosive death, again and again By Tereza Pultarova,SPACE.com

Astrophysics The Solar System's Mysterious Magnetic Fields Most of our neighboring planets have magnetic fields, but scientists do not fully understand how they arise By Clara Moskowitz,Mark Belan

Particle Physics Weird Muons May Point to New Particles and Forces of Nature A mismatch between theory and experiment could explain big physics mysteries By Marcela Carena

Nanotechnology The Kavli Prize Presents: Understanding Atoms [Sponsored] Gerd Binnig shared The Kavli Prize in Nanoscience in 2016 for inventing the atomic force microscope. What transformative impact has this invention had on nanoscience? By Scientific American Custom Media | 07:03

FROM THE STORE Scientific American Volume 325, Issue 4

QUOTE OF THE DAY "The SpaceX Starship system fundamentally changes the paradigm for NASA science, technology development and testing, and human exploration of space." A white paper on Starship's potential scientific impacts

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FROM THE ARCHIVE New Studies Warn of Cataclysmic Solar Superstorms New data suggest the New York Railroad Storm could have surpassed the intensity of the famous Carrington Event of 1859 By Jonathan O'Callaghan | September 2019

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