NASA has officially approved the Dragonfly mission to explore Saturn's largest moon, Titan, with a quadcopter drone.
“Dragonfly is a spectacular science mission with broad interest, and we are excited to take the next steps in this mission,” said Nicky Fox. “Exploring Titan will push the boundaries of what we can do with a rotorcraft outside of Earth.”
NASA said the Dragonfly mission will launch in July 2028 with a total life-cycle cost of $3.35 billion. That's about double the mission, and the launch was expected to happen earlier.
However, the increased costs are not surprising for a mission as innovative as Dragonfly. After arriving at Saturn's largest moon , Titan, the rotorcraft lander will begin flying from place to place, exploring environments rich in organic molecules.
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Dragonfly will be the first mobile robot explorer to land on any planetary body other than the Moon and Mars. It is also the second flying drone to explore another planet. NASA's Ingenuity helicopter on Mars was the first.
Exploring Titan will be interesting. Despite its remote location in the cold outer solar system, the moon appears to resemble ancient Earth. A veil of orange haze envelops Titan, and its surface is covered in sand dunes and methane lakes.
Titan's frigid temperatures (minus 179° Celsius) suggest that frozen water behaves like rock. NASA's Cassini spacecraft , which has flown by Titan several times, has discovered weather systems on the moon . For example, it found evidence of hydrocarbon rain and winds that appear to create waves in Titan's methane lakes.
Most of what scientists know about Titan comes from measurements collected by Cassini and the European Space Agency's Huygens probe . Huygens returned the first images from Titan's surface, but only transmitted data for 72 minutes.
Dragonfly will explore Titan for about three years, studying its surface and atmosphere and searching for biosignatures that could be signs of life. The rotorcraft will also visit more than 30 sites on Titan's equator.
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“The Dragonfly mission is an incredible opportunity to explore an ocean world in a way we’ve never done before,” researcher Elizabeth Turtle in a statement. “The team is committed and excited to complete this unprecedented investigation of the complex carbon chemistry that exists on Titan’s surface and the innovative technology that brings this first-of-its-kind space mission.”
However, as we mentioned earlier, this mission comes at a high cost. Dragonfly's life cycle cost of $3.35 billion will make it significantly more expensive than many other missions.
When NASA selected Dragonfly in 2019, the mission had a cost cap of $850 million ($1 billion when adjusted for inflation) to get it to the launch pad. The budget cap did not include the launch or the costs of operating the Dragonfly spacecraft after launch. The costs that were initially under the budget cap have ballooned from $1 billion to $2.1 billion after inflation, according to NASA. Since 2019, NASA has had to re-plan the Dragonfly mission several times due to funding constraints.
During that time, NASA has ordered Dragonfly officials to delay the launch from 2026 to 2027, and NASA has increased funding for Dragonfly to pay for a larger rocket. According to the new announcement for the Dragonfly mission to SaturnTitan, the launch date is set for July 2028. If the launch does go ahead then, Dragonfly will arrive at Titan in December 2034. Inside a heat shield and airframe, Dragonfly will enter Titan's atmosphere and, via a parachute, slowly descend to the moon's surface. The descent process will take nearly two hours. The quadcopter drone will then land on the ground.
See also: NASA: Tests mini rovers that will analyze the surface of the moon
At the surface, Titan's atmosphere is four times thicker than Earth's. This makes the landing process much more time-consuming than entering atmosphere , but the higher air density should provide excellent flying conditions.
Importance of studying Titan
Titan, Saturn's largest moon, presents a unique opportunity for NASA to explore one of the most complex and geologically active moons in our solar system.
Titan has a special atmosphere, and its exploration could provide important information about the origin and evolution of atmospheres on other planets.
In addition, Titan has a variety of geological features, including sand dunes and methane. These features provide many opportunities to explore and understand the geological processes that shape planets and their moons.
source: arstechnica.com
