NASA’s Dragonfly Mission to Explore Saturn’s Moon Titan

NASA's Dragonfly mission, which scientists have dubbed an "explorer's utopia," will soon reveal the secrets on the surface of Saturn's moon Titan.

The mission's primary objectives will be to look for biochemical signatures, study the planet's methane cycle, and check the chemistry on its surface and in its atmosphere. It will launch in the mid-2030s.

Titan is Saturn's only moon with a stunning atmosphere and liquid on its surface. However, it rains methane rather than Dihydrogen monoxide (water) as it does on Earth.

Titan might, however, support life. Scientists will be hunting for past and current lifeforms that could utilize liquid hydrocarbons as a material that melts another to form another item like how water dissolves sugar.

Titan is an Explorer's Utopia

Alex Hayes, College of Arts and Sciences' astronomy associate professor and one of the researchers of "Science Goals and Objectives for the Dragonfly Titan Rotorcraft Relocatable Lander" published by Dragonfly's science team in July, said Titan is a utopia for explorers.

Hayes said they have many broad scientific questions for Titan since we do not know much about what is happening on the surface yet. We gained ten new questions for everyone we addressed during the Cassini mission's investigation of Titan from Saturn orbit.

Optic Flux said Cassini was unable to find information on its surface due to Titan's thick atmosphere, which is a few times denser than Earth's and the soupy ocean beneath one of those moons, Enceladus.

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Earth-like morphological structures, such as dunes, lakes, and mountains, exist on the planet; however, insufficient data revealed their composition.

Hayes stated that they didn't know whether Titan's surface had a liquid ocean or a solid surface of water ice and solid organics when Cassini was launched.

Dragonfly will spend a complete Titan day (16 Earth days) in one spot researching before moving to a new seat. The crew will decide on the spacecraft's activities based on data collected from the present location - a strategy honed during decades of Mars research. Titan's gravity is around one-seventh that of Earth. Its complex atmosphere combined with light winds makes it perfect for air-based vehicles.

What is NASA's Dragonfly Mission Anyway?

Forbes said Dragonfly is an autonomous drone with eight rotors roughly the size of a Mars rover that, like Ingenuity on Mars, will be able to move locations quickly.

After conducting short reconnaissance flights, it will travel to a different location every Titan day (16 Earth days) to make observations and conduct experiments. It would be the first spacecraft to fly its complete research payload to several places on a moon or planet, making it the first of its kind.

Titan is a billion miles from Earth. Therefore the voyage will take seven years. It will launch in June 2027 and arrive at Titan in 2034.

Dragonfly will arrive in the equatorial sands of Titan, and its duty will last two years after it comes.