Current:Home > FinanceNASA's Dragonfly preparing to fly through atmosphere of Saturn's moon Titan -Secure Growth Solutions
NASA's Dragonfly preparing to fly through atmosphere of Saturn's moon Titan
View
Date:2025-04-12 04:21:43
NASA is preparing for its next mission: flying through the atmosphere of one of Saturn's moons.
The space agency's Dragonfly rotorcraft lander mission will be exploring Titan, the largest moon of Saturn, as well as the second largest in the solar system, and NASA announced this week that it performed new tests in preparation for the mission.
Launching in June 2027 and arriving in the mid-2030s, the mission, which is expected to last for nearly three years, will examine how far prebiotic chemistry has progressed, which is the study of how organic compounds formed, and if past or existing life is on the moon.
MORE: Prada to design NASA's next-gen spacesuits
Titan is unique because it's the only moon with a dense atmosphere and the only other object in space aside from Earth where evidence has been found of liquid on the surface.
Part of NASA's New Frontiers Program, Dragonfly will be sampling materials in diverse locations to study the habitability of Titan's environment, it said.
NASA says Titan's environment is similar to Earth in its early stages and may provide clues to how life formed on Earth.
However, NASA and the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland, are ensuring the rotorcraft -- which will fly like a drone -- will be able to function in the unique environment.
Researchers have been conducting test campaigns at NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, assessing the vehicle's aerodynamic performance in harsh, near-Titan conditions during various stages of the mission.
In one of its latest tests, the team set up a half-scale Dragonfly lander model to test its descent once it arrives on Titan and its flight over the surface.
"We tested conditions across the expected flight envelope at a variety of wind speeds, rotor speeds and flight angles to assess the aerodynamic performance of the vehicle," test lead Bernadine Juliano of the APL said in a statement on NASA's website.
"We completed more than 700 total runs, encompassing over 4,000 individual data points. All test objectives were successfully accomplished, and the data will help increase confidence in our simulation models on Earth before extrapolating to Titan conditions," Juliano said.
Earlier this month, NASA held a press conference to unveil the contents of the OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification and Security -- Regolith Explorer) mission, also part of the New Frontiers program.
MORE: Prada to design NASA's next-gen spacesuits
The asteroid sample collected from space contains "the building blocks of life on Earth," according to the space agency.
The samples from the asteroid contained abundant water in the form of hydrated clay minerals and molecules, which may have led to the formation of lakes, oceans and rivers on Earth and had a high abundance of carbon, which may explain how Earth was seeded with chemicals.
This is not the first time researchers have attempted to explore Titan.
The European Space Agency's Huygens Probe landed on the moon in January 2005 and spent about four hours discovering new information about Titan's atmosphere and surface.
ABC News' Gina Sunseri contributed to this report.
veryGood! (5)
Related
- 'Most Whopper
- With Biden in Europe Promising to Expedite U.S. LNG Exports, Environmentalists on the Gulf Coast Say, Not So Fast
- Nearly a third of nurses nationwide say they are likely to leave the profession
- In North Carolina Senate Race, Global Warming Is On The Back Burner. Do Voters Even Care?
- EU countries double down on a halt to Syrian asylum claims but will not yet send people back
- Does Michael Jordan Approve of His Son Marcus Dating Larsa Pippen? He Says...
- Kyle Richards and Mauricio Umansky Address “Untrue” Divorce Rumors
- McDonald's franchises face more than $200,000 in fines for child-labor law violations
- Toyota to invest $922 million to build a new paint facility at its Kentucky complex
- Does Michael Jordan Approve of His Son Marcus Dating Larsa Pippen? He Says...
Ranking
- Why Sean "Diddy" Combs Is Being Given a Laptop in Jail Amid Witness Intimidation Fears
- Coach 4th of July Deals: These Handbags Are Red, White and Reduced 60% Off
- Warming Trends: Chilling in a Heat Wave, Healthy Food Should Eat Healthy Too, Breeding Delays for Wild Dogs, and Three Days of Climate Change in Song
- Elon Musk says 'I've hired a new CEO' for Twitter
- North Carolina trustees approve Bill Belichick’s deal ahead of introductory news conference
- Is Burying Power Lines Fire-Prevention Magic, or Magical Thinking?
- The Fed admits some of the blame for Silicon Valley Bank's failure in scathing report
- In Africa, Conflict and Climate Super-Charge the Forces Behind Famine and Food Insecurity
Recommendation
DoorDash steps up driver ID checks after traffic safety complaints
Daniel Radcliffe Reveals Sex of His and Erin Darke’s First Baby
Nearly a third of nurses nationwide say they are likely to leave the profession
See How Jennifer Lopez, Khloe Kardashian and More Stars Are Celebrating 4th of July
Bodycam footage shows high
Who's the boss in today's labor market?
Shares of smaller lenders sink once again, reviving fears about the banking sector
Cyberattacks on health care are increasing. Inside one hospital's fight to recover