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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30 Comments
- 639623 daysI 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.
- 639623 daysl love it
- lovewajobygo8 daysso cool!!
moomit310 daysBro, that is so cool they should use something like that for aliens!!!!- honizitesijo11 daysI am SPEECHLESS! That thing could find actual life!!!!!!!!!!!!!
skyza13 dayswhy does the drone look like a cybertruck ? ??????- dcopaev3914 daysthat is so cool
pidydapa-17265048277815 dayscool
banana607316 daysI doubt that there is any life but this is still pretty cool. (
lowtap3rfad317 daysI wonder if we will live on Mars eventually. It could have aliens and orca sharks!- skyza13 daysno, there is no sign of life on mars (yet) and besides, the water that is below mars is frozen so nothing can live in it. so there can’t be orcas in mars. But, elon musk IS planning to send people to space so we might live on mars in abot the year 2050.
bigthumpywumpy14 daysMost likely. We would need to either: Terraform Mars into a kind of Earth sibling, or; live in domes equipped with filters, (possibly a gravity honer), and plants/food. Then, the rich billionaires/millionaires would possibly be able to live on Mars- moomit310 daysyou are right bout that
