Starship fleet grounded
SpaceX's Starship rockets have been grounded by federal regulators pending a formal investigation after the most recent test flight ended in failure. The grounding affects the entire Starship fleet and delays the company's timeline for upcoming missions.
The Federal Aviation Administration confirmed it is overseeing the investigation. SpaceX must identify the root cause of the failure and implement corrective measures before flight operations can resume.
Setback for space ambitions
The grounding comes at a delicate time for SpaceX. NASA has contracted Starship for the Artemis program, which aims to return humans to the Moon. Elon Musk has also pitched Starship as the vehicle that will carry humans to Mars.
Industry analysts say the investigation could take weeks or months, depending on the complexity of the failure. SpaceX has not provided a timeline for when flights might resume.
AI cracks 50-year-old math problem
In other science news, a mathematical AI system has helped researchers crack a problem that has stumped mathematicians for 50 years. The system, developed by a team of researchers, used novel approaches to find a solution that had eluded human mathematicians for decades.
The breakthrough demonstrates how AI is expanding beyond language and images into pure mathematics. Researchers say AI systems could accelerate discovery in fields ranging from physics to cryptography.