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Spaceflight from Super-Earths is difficult

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Paper breakdownThe authors' claims, conditions and measurements, as JSON Signed receiptProof this review has not been altered
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Michael Hippke

Popular Physics · Submitted 12 Apr 2018

abstract compiled · 2026-09-23 · no language-model review

The authors' main claim We find that chemical rockets still allow for escape velocities on Super-Earths up to 10x Earth mass.

how it is stated · asserted 1.00 read the record →

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arXiv ID1804.04727 (version 2)
Pith IDHNGKURAB, Pith's permanent record of this paper and its review
CitationMichael Hippke. "Spaceflight from Super-Earths is difficult." arXiv:1804.04727 (2018). https://pith.science/paper/HNGKURAB
Claim paper

The compiled record

The paper's own sentences, arranged. Each label is drawn from a closed vocabulary; the number beside it is the probability the classifier gave that label. Numbers in the tables are the authors', checked by code. No sentence in this record was written by a model.

Open the compiled record

Compiled by classifier-1.13.0 via TypeSafe API, question bank abstract-p1-20260923, 2026-09-23: 1 request, 3,512 input tokens.

What the abstract itself states, as probabilities: claims first 0.03 · states limitation 0.46 · human participants 0.02 · controlled comparison 0.10 · randomized assignment 0.01 · states quantitative result 0.97 · compares with prior results 0.20 · mentions code or data availability 0.02.

The abstract, sentence by sentence

arXiv listing abstract v2. Results and the main claim are underlined; .

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.

background contribution method result interpretation main claim

What the classifier reports for each sentence. The number is the probability it gave the label.
#sentencerolethe authors' own workstates the main conclusionstrength
s0 Many rocky exoplanets are heavier and larger than the Earth, and have higher surface gravity. background 1.00 0.07 0.03 asserted 0.99
s1 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. background 0.99 0.11 0.32 asserted 1.00
s2 We find that chemical rockets still allow for escape velocities on Super-Earths up to 10x Earth mass. result 1.00 0.92 0.47 asserted 1.00
s3 More massive rocky worlds, if they exist, would require other means to leave the planet, such as nuclear propulsion. interpretation 0.80 0.38 0.22 hedged possibility 0.69

What kind of paper the classifier reports this is: theoretical result 0.87 · evidence from simulation or computation 0.43.

What was examined, and what was not

sources read
  • arXiv listing abstract v2
not examined
  • full text
  • figures and tables
  • references and citing sentences
  • relations to other papers
levels run
  • P abstract
not run
  • S sections
  • T body sentences
  • C citations
  • R cross-paper relations

Every quoted sentence on this record is the authors'. Every label is from Pith's closed vocabulary, with the probability shown beside it. Every number in the measurements table is the authors', checked by code. Record as JSON

The paper
Original 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.

Human review

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How the literature uses it

1 arXiv paper cite this in 2 sentences

Each citing sentence is taken from the citing paper's LaTeX source and typed by Pith's classifier. A label appears at probability 0.8 or more (0.95 for support), a contest at 0.7 or more; the quoted words are the citing authors'. How each label was checked · JSON

Papers whose main result relates to this one's

Found among the papers closest to this one by title and main claim. Pith's classifier compared each pair's main results and a second model family confirmed the relation; checked against two further families, shown conflicts agreed 118 times in 120 and shown same results 218 times in 239. The quoted sentence is the other paper's main claim.

States the same result 1 paper

Papers citing it · 1 sentence without a confident label

Uses its data or values 1 paper
  • a big rocket with $m_R = 4 ·10^8 kg$, as discussed in [ref] , would have a cross section 200 times larger than the Saturn V, translating into a radius of $70 m$ instead of $5 m$.

    Shape of Big Rockets · Numerical Examples · 0.89

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