Spaceflight from Super-Earths is difficult
Popular Physics
2019-08-15 v2 Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
Abstract
Many rocky exoplanets are heavier and larger than the Earth, and have higher surface gravity. This makes space-flight on these worlds very challenging, because the required fuel mass for a given payload is an exponential function of planetary surface gravity. We find that chemical rockets still allow for escape velocities on Super-Earths up to 10x Earth mass. More massive rocky worlds, if they exist, would require other means to leave the planet, such as nuclear propulsion.
Cite
@article{arxiv.1804.04727,
title = {Spaceflight from Super-Earths is difficult},
author = {Michael Hippke},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1804.04727},
year = {2019}
}
Comments
Accepted for publication in the International Journal of Astrobiology. arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:1803.11384