The Dragonfly is a rotorcraft lander mission – part of NASA’s New Frontiers program – designed to take advantage of Titan’s environment to determine material samples and surface design in a variety of geographic settings. This revolutionary mission concept includes the ability to explore different locations for the habitat characteristic of Titan’s environment, to investigate how far prebiotic chemistry has progressed, and to discover chemical signatures that may indicate water-based and / or hydrocarbon-based life. Credit: Johns Hopkins APL
Dragon Fly a NASA A mission that delivers a rotorcraft Sat.Moon of the Moon to further our search for the building blocks of life. While Dragonfly was originally scheduled to launch in 2026, NASA has urged the Dragonfly team to extend their alternative launch readiness date to 2027. There will be no changes to the mission architecture to accommodate this new date, and launching at a later date will not affect the Dragon Fly once the science returns or capabilities on Titan.
The decision to postpone the alternative launch date is based on external factors from the Dragon Fly project team, including COVID-19Its effect on the budget of the Department of Eclipse Science.
The artist’s impression of the dragon fly on the surface of Titan. Credit: NASA / Johns Hopkins APL
“NASA has full confidence in the Dragonfly team to deliver a successful mission,” said Lori Glaze, director of the Department of Planetary Science at NASA’s headquarters in Washington. “The Dragon Fly will significantly increase our understanding of this rich organic world and help answer key astrobiology questions in our quest to understand the processes that support the evolution of life on Earth.”
The dragonfly marks the first time NASA will fly a multi-rotor vehicle for science to another planet. Taking advantage of Titan’s gasense atmosphere – four times less than Earth – it will also be the first vehicle to fly its full science payload at multiple locations to replicate surface material and for targeted access. By surveying dozens of locations in the icy world, the dragon fly will characterize Titan’s atmospheric habitat and examine the progress of its prebiotic chemistry.
