NASA has announced that its next destination in the solar system is the unique, richly organic world Titan. The Dragonfly mission will fly multiple sorties to sample and examine sites around Saturn’s icy moon.
Launching of Dragonfly
Dragonfly will launch in 2026 and arrive in 2034 on Titan which takes 8 years to reach to Saturn from EarthLooking of Dragonfly
Dragonfly will be a rotorcraft lander, much like a large quadcopter with double rotors, an octocopter. Such redundant rotor configuration will be able to tolerate the loss of at least one rotor or motor. Each of the eight rotors will be about 1 m in diameter. The aircraft will travel at about 10 m/s or 36 km/h and climb to an altitude of up to 4 km.
Objective
The main objective of the Dragonfly mission is to find life on Titan. Earlier in 2005, the European Space Agency's Huygens lander acquired some atmospheric and surface measurements on Titan, detecting tholins, which are a mix of various types of hydrocarbons (organic compounds) in the atmosphere and on the surface.
The atmosphere contains plentiful nitrogen and methane, and strong evidence indicates that liquid methane exists on the surface. Evidence also indicates the presence of liquid water and ammonia under the surface. Methane is a key ingredient to form life on any planet or object
Funding for Dragonfly
The Dragonfly mission receives $4 billion. Only The rotorcraft cost around $850 million with launching and all it is $1 billion
Power to rotorcraft
The rotorcraft, powered by a battery that will be recharged by a Multi-Mission Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator (MMRTG) during the night. MMRTGs convert the heat from the natural decay of a radioisotope into electricity. Plutonium-238 is being used for radioactive material. It will also help the rotorcraft to provide heat and to operate in cold conditions as the temperature on Titan is minus 179 degrees Celcius.
Scientific payload
- DraMS (Dragonfly Mass Spectrometer) is a mass spectrometer to identify chemical components, especially those relevant to biological processes, in surface samples
- DraGNS (Dragonfly Gamma-Ray and Neutron Spectrometer), is a set of a Gamma-ray spectrometer and a neutron spectrometer to identify the composition of surface and air samples
- DraGMet (Dragonfly Geophysics and Meteorology Package) is a suite of meteorological sensors and a seismometer
- DragonCam (Dragonfly Camera Suite) is a set of microscopic and panoramic cameras to image Titan's terrain and scout for scientifically interesting landing sites
Landing site
The Dragonfly rotorcraft will land at a dark dune field region called Shangri-La
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