Physics World October 2020
Revolutionary rocket: could this engine transform space flight?
Reusable vehicles are vital to make access to space more affordable, but conventional rocket engines have their limits. In our cover feature, Oliver Nailard describes how UK firm Reaction Engines hopes to revolutionize space access with a new class of propulsion system, the Synergetic Air Breathing Rocket Engine (SABRE). Also in this issue, Helen Gleeson describes her group’s work on auxetic materials, which get thicker (not thinner) when stretched, while Anna Demming looks at the power of optical microscopes that beat the diffraction limit. In Graduate Careers, we look at students who’ve gone down unconventional career paths.
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Courting controversy online
Monumental mistake
Green strings attached
Stretching the limits
Path of least resistance
Age of cosmic exploration
Is anybody there?
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