NASA's Dragonfly Lander Set To Launch To Saturn's Largest Moon In 2028
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NASA is preparing to launch one of its most exciting missions yet. In 2028, the Dragonfly lander will embark on a journey to Titan, Saturn's largest moon. The primary objective of this $3.35 billion mission is to find evidence of early life.
Titan is particularly interesting to scientists because it is the only other world in our Solar System known to have liquid. The moon's lakes, rivers, and seas are thought to be filled with liquid methane and ethane. Both compounds can be found on Earth. Researchers also suspect that Titan has ice volcanoes that emit water vapor into the atmosphere. These volcanoes may provide conditions suitable for life.
“Titan is unlike any other place in the Solar System, and Dragonfly is like no other mission,” says NASA's Thomas Zurbuchen.
The lander is being designed and built by the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Maryland. If all goes according to plan, the spacecraft will launch from Earth in 2028 and land on Titan's surface in 2034.
Dragonfly's unique design allows it to function as both a drone and a lander. This will enable the spacecraft to explore Titan's various environments, from dunes to craters. Dragonfly will make short hops of up to five miles (8 km) across Titan's surface every 16 Earth days. During its 32-month mission, it will cover a total distance of about 108 miles (174 km). This is nearly twice the distance traveled to date by all the Mars rovers combined!
The lander will be equipped with a suite of scientific instruments. They will sample and measure the composition of Titan's organic materials, which could indicate signs of life. The instruments will also monitor the moon's atmospheric and surface conditions. Due to Titan's limited sunlight, Dragonfly will be powered by nuclear energy.
“Dragonfly will visit a world filled with a wide variety of organic compounds, which are the building blocks of life and could teach us about the origin of life itself,” says Dr. Zurbuchen.
Resources: NASA.gov, Wikipedia.com, Planetary.org
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29 Comments
- brayden123123124 monthsthis so so cool keep it up dogo news
- 639625 monthsI really hope that Titian is inhabitable but I wonder how we would get there. A spaceship can not carry many people and wouldnt it take like 50 years to get there? I dont know about you but I wouldnt want to spend 50 years on a crapped spaceship with the same 5 people.
- 639625 monthsl love it
lovewajobygo5 monthsso cool!!
moomit35 monthsBro, that is so cool they should use something like that for aliens!!!!- honizitesijo5 monthsI am SPEECHLESS! That thing could find actual life!!!!!!!!!!!!!
skyza5 monthswhy does the drone look like a cybertruck ? ??????- dcopaev396 monthsthat is so cool
pidydapa-1726504827786 monthscool
banana60736 monthsI doubt that there is any life but this is still pretty cool. (