''Dragonfly'' is a planned

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...

mission to send a robotic rotorcraft to the surface of

Titan Titan most often refers to: * Titan (moon), the largest moon of Saturn * Titans, a race of deities in Greek mythology Titan or Titans may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Fictional entities Fictional locations * Titan in fiction, fictiona ...

, the largest moon of Saturn. It is planned to be launched in July 2028 and arrive in 2034. It would be the first aircraft on Titan and is intended to make the first powered and fully controlled atmospheric flight on any

moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width of ...

, with the intention of studying prebiotic chemistry and extraterrestrial habitability. It would then use its vertical takeoffs and landings (

VTOL A vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft is one that can take off and land vertically without relying on a runway. This classification can include a variety of types of aircraft including helicopters as well as thrust-vectoring fixed-win ...

) capability to move between exploration sites.Dragonfly: Exploring Titan's Prebiotic Organic Chemistry and Habitability
E. P. Turtle, J. W. Barnes, M. G. Trainer, R. D. Lorenz, S. M. MacKenzie, K. E. Hibbard, D. Adams, P. Bedini, J. W. Langelaan, K. Zacny, and the Dragonfly Team ''Lunar and Planetary Science Conference 2017'' Titan is unique in having an abundant, complex, and diverse carbon-rich chemistry and a surface dominated by water and ice, with an interior water ocean, making it a high-priority target for

astrobiology Astrobiology, and the related field of exobiology, is an interdisciplinary scientific field that studies the origins, early evolution, distribution, and future of life in the universe. Astrobiology is the multidisciplinary field that investig ...

and origin of life studies. The mission was proposed in April 2017 to NASA's

New Frontiers program The New Frontiers program is a series of space exploration missions being conducted by NASA with the purpose of furthering the understanding of the Solar System. The program selects medium-class missions which can provide high science returns. ...

by the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL), and was selected as one of two finalists (out of twelve proposals) in December 2017 to further refine the mission's concept. On 27 June 2019, ''Dragonfly'' was selected to become the fourth mission in the New Frontiers program. In April 2024 the mission was confirmed and moved to its final development stages.

Overview

''Dragonfly'' is an astrobiology mission to Titan to assess its microbial habitability and study its prebiotic chemistry at various locations. ''Dragonfly'' is designed to perform controlled flights and vertical takeoffs and landings between locations. The mission is to involve flights to multiple different locations on the surface, which allows sampling of diverse regions and geological contexts.''Ingenuity'', a technology demonstration

UAV An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), commonly known as a drone, is an aircraft without any human pilot, crew, or passengers on board. UAVs are a component of an unmanned aircraft system (UAS), which includes adding a ground-based controller ...

helicopter, which landed on Mars with the ''Perseverance'' rover on 18 February 2021 as part of the

Mars 2020 Mars 2020 is a Mars rover mission forming part of NASA's Mars Exploration Program that includes the rover ''Perseverance'', the small robotic, coaxial helicopter '' Ingenuity'', and associated delivery vehicles. Mars 2020 was launched from Ear ...

mission and first achieved powered flight on 19 April 2021.

History

The initial ''Dragonfly'' conception took place over a dinner conversation between scientists Jason W. Barnes of Department of Physics,

University of Idaho The University of Idaho (U of I, or UIdaho) is a public land-grant research university in Moscow, Idaho. It is the state's land-grant and primary research university,, and the lead university in the Idaho Space Grant Consortium. The University ...

, (who had previously made the AVIATR proposal for a Titan aircraft) and Ralph Lorenz of

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hem ...

Applied Physics Laboratory, and it took 15 months to make it a detailed mission proposal. The principal investigator is

Elizabeth Turtle Elizabeth "Zibi" Turtle is a planetary scientist at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. Education Turtle earned her B.S. in physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1989. She earned her Ph.D. in planetary ...

, a planetary scientist at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory. Dragonfly spacecraft

The ''Dragonfly'' mission builds on several earlier studies of Titan mobile aerial exploration, including the 2007 Titan Explorer Flagship study, which advocated a

Montgolfier balloon A hot air balloon is a lighter-than-air aircraft consisting of a bag, called an envelope, which contains heated air. Suspended beneath is a gondola or wicker basket (in some long-distance or high-altitude balloons, a capsule), which carries p ...

for regional exploration, and AVIATR, an airplane concept considered for the Discovery program. The concept of a rotorcraft lander that flew on battery power, recharged during the 8-Earth-day Titan night from a radioisotope power source, was proposed by Lorenz in 2000.Post-Cassini Exploration of Titan: Science Rationale and Mission Concepts
R. Lorenz, Journal of the British Interplanetary Society, 2000, Vol. 53, pages 218–234 More recent discussion has included a 2014 Titan rotorcraft study by Larry Matthies, at the

Jet Propulsion Laboratory The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is a federally funded research and development center and NASA field center in the City of La Cañada Flintridge, California, United States. Founded in the 1930s by Caltech researchers, JPL is owned by NASA an ...

, that would have a small rotorcraft deployed from a lander or a balloon. The hot-air balloon concepts would have used the heat from a

radioisotope thermoelectric generator A radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG, RITEG), sometimes referred to as a radioisotope power system (RPS), is a type of nuclear battery that uses an array of thermocouples to convert the heat released by the decay of a suitable radioacti ...

(RTG). ''Dragonfly'' is to use its multi-rotor vehicle to transport its instrument suite to multiple locations to make measurements of surface composition, atmospheric conditions, and geologic processes. ''Dragonfly'' and ''

CAESAR Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman people, Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in Caes ...

'', a comet sample return mission to 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko, were the two finalists for the New Frontiers program Mission 4, and on 27 June 2019, NASA selected ''Dragonfly'' for development with a plan to launch in June 2027. On 3 March 2023, Dragonfly passed its preliminary design review (PDR). In November 2023 following

's decision to postpone the formal confirmation of the mission due to funding uncertainties, the launch was delayed by one year, with a new launch date set for July 2028.

Funding

The ''CAESAR'' and ''Dragonfly'' missions received US$4 million funding each through the end of 2018 to further develop and mature their concepts. NASA announced the selection of ''Dragonfly'' on 27 June 2019, which is expected to be built and launched by July 2028. ''Dragonfly'' is the fourth in NASA's New Frontiers portfolio, a series of principal investigator-led planetary science investigations that fall under a development cost cap of approximately US$850 million, and including launch services, the total cost projection is approximately US$1 billion. A revised cost projection was released in April 2024, with ''Dragonfly'' now expected to incur a total lifecycle cost of US$3.35 billion due to supply chain increases and delays caused by the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

Science objectives

Titan is similar to the very early Earth, and can provide clues to how life may have arisen on

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surfa ...

. In 2005, the

European Space Agency , owners = , headquarters = Paris, Île-de-France, France , coordinates = , spaceport = Guiana Space Centre , seal = File:ESA emblem seal.png , seal_size = 130px , image = Views in the Main Control Room (1205 ...

's ''Huygens'' lander acquired some atmospheric and surface measurements on Titan, detecting

tholin Tholins (after the Greek (') "hazy" or "muddy"; from the ancient Greek word meaning "sepia ink") are a wide variety of organic compounds formed by solar ultraviolet or cosmic ray irradiation of simple carbon-containing compounds such as carbon ...

s, which are a mix of various types of hydrocarbons (

organic compound In chemistry, organic compounds are generally any chemical compounds that contain carbon-hydrogen or carbon-carbon bonds. Due to carbon's ability to catenate (form chains with other carbon atoms), millions of organic compounds are known. The ...

s) in the atmosphere and on the surface. Because Titan's atmosphere obscures the surface at many wavelengths, the specific compositions of solid hydrocarbon materials on Titan's surface remain essentially unknown. Measuring the compositions of materials in different geologic settings is intended to reveal how far prebiotic chemistry has progressed in environments that provide known key ingredients for life, such as pyrimidines (bases used to encode information in DNA) and

amino acid Amino acids are organic compounds that contain both amino and carboxylic acid functional groups. Although hundreds of amino acids exist in nature, by far the most important are the alpha-amino acids, which comprise proteins. Only 22 alpha am ...

s, the building blocks of

protein Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including catalysing metabolic reactions, DNA replication, respo ...

s. Areas of particular interest are sites where

extraterrestrial liquid water Extraterrestrial liquid water () is water in its liquid state that naturally occurs outside Earth. It is a subject of wide interest because it is recognized as one of the key prerequisites for life as we know it and thus surmised as essential fo ...

in impact melt or potential cryovolcanic flows may have interacted with the abundant organic compounds. ''Dragonfly'' would provide the capability to explore diverse locations to characterize the habitability of Titan's environment, investigate how far

prebiotic chemistry In biology, abiogenesis (from a- 'not' + Greek bios 'life' + genesis 'origin') or the origin of life is the natural process by which life has arisen from non-living matter, such as simple organic compounds. The prevailing scientific hypothes ...

has progressed, and search for

biosignature A biosignature (sometimes called chemical fossil or molecular fossil) is any substance – such as an element, isotope, or molecule – or phenomenon that provides scientific evidence of past or present life. Measurable attribute ...

s indicative of life based on water as solvent and even hypothetical types of biochemistry. The atmosphere contains plentiful

nitrogen Nitrogen is the chemical element with the symbol N and atomic number 7. Nitrogen is a nonmetal and the lightest member of group 15 of the periodic table, often called the pnictogens. It is a common element in the universe, estimated at se ...

and

methane Methane ( , ) is a chemical compound with the chemical formula (one carbon atom bonded to four hydrogen atoms). It is a group-14 hydride, the simplest alkane, and the main constituent of natural gas. The relative abundance of methane on Eart ...

, and strong evidence indicates that liquid methane exists on the surface. Evidence also indicates the presence of liquid water and

ammonia Ammonia is an inorganic compound of nitrogen and hydrogen with the formula . A stable binary hydride, and the simplest pnictogen hydride, ammonia is a colourless gas with a distinct pungent smell. Biologically, it is a common nitrogenous was ...

under the surface, which may be delivered to the surface by

cryovolcanic A cryovolcano (sometimes informally called an ice volcano) is a type of volcano that erupts volatiles such as water, ammonia or methane into an extremely cold environment that is at or below their freezing point. The process of formation is known ...

activity.Robert Zubrin '' The Case for Mars: The Plan to Settle the Red Planet and Why We Must'' p. 146, Simon & Schuster/Touchstone 1996

Design and construction

''Dragonfly'' is designed as a rotorcraft lander, much like a large quadcopter with double rotors, which is known as an octocopter. Each of the craft's eight rotors is in diameter. The aircraft would travel at about and climb to an altitude of up to . Flight on Titan is aerodynamically benign as Titan has low gravity and little wind, and its dense atmosphere allows for efficient rotor propulsion. The

(RTG) power source has been proven in multiple spacecraft, and the extensive use of quad drones on Earth provides a well-understood flight system that is being complemented with algorithms to enable independent actions in real-time. The craft is designed to operate in a space radiation environment and in temperatures averaging . Titan's dense atmosphere and low gravity mean that the flight power for a given mass is a factor of about 40 times lower than on Earth. The atmosphere has 1.45 times the pressure and about four times the density of Earth's, and local gravity (13.8% of Earth's) makes flight easier than on Earth, although cold temperatures, lower light levels and higher atmospheric drag on the airframe will be challenges. ''Dragonfly'' should be able to fly several kilometers, powered by a

lithium-ion battery A lithium-ion or Li-ion battery is a type of rechargeable battery which uses the reversible reduction of lithium ions to store energy. It is the predominant battery type used in portable consumer electronics and electric vehicles. It also se ...

, which is to be recharged by a

Multi-Mission Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator The multi-mission radioisotope thermoelectric generator (MMRTG) is a type of radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG) developed for NASA space missions such as the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL), under the jurisdiction of the United States Depar ...

(MMRTG) during the night. MMRTGs convert the heat from the natural decay of a radioisotope into electricity. Twenty-four Radioisotope Heater Units (RHUs) are also kept reserved for this mission. The rotorcraft should be able to travel ten miles (16 km) on each battery charge and stay aloft for a half hour each time. The vehicle is to have sensors to scout new science targets, and then return to the original site until new landing destinations are approved by mission controllers. The ''Dragonfly'' rotorcraft will weigh approximately and be packaged inside a heatshield of diameter. Regolith samples are to be obtained by two sample acquisition drills and hoses, one on each landing skid, for delivery to the mass spectrometer instrument. Dragonfly-landing

The craft is to remain on the ground during the Titan nights, which last about eight Earth days or 192 hours. Activities during the night may include sample collection and analysis, seismological studies like diagnosing wave activity on the northern hydrocarbon seas,

meteorological Meteorology is a branch of the atmospheric sciences (which include atmospheric chemistry and physics) with a major focus on weather forecasting. The study of meteorology dates back millennia, though significant progress in meteorology did not ...

monitoring, and local microscopic imaging using

LED A light-emitting diode (LED) is a semiconductor Electronics, device that Light#Light sources, emits light when Electric current, current flows through it. Electrons in the semiconductor recombine with electron holes, releasing energy i ...

illuminators as flown on ''Phoenix'' lander and ''Curiosity'' rover. The craft is designed to communicate directly to Earth with a high-gain antenna. The Penn State Vertical Lift Research Center of Excellence is responsible for rotor design and analysis, rotorcraft flight-control development, scaled rotorcraft testbed development, ground testing support, and flight performance assessment.

Scientific payload

* DraMS (Dragonfly Mass Spectrometer) is a mass spectrometer to identify chemical components, especially those relevant to biological processes, in surface and atmospheric samples. * DraGNS (Dragonfly Gamma-Ray and

Neutron The neutron is a subatomic particle, symbol or , which has a neutral (not positive or negative) charge, and a mass slightly greater than that of a proton. Protons and neutrons constitute the nuclei of atoms. Since protons and neutrons beh ...

Spectrometer), consists of a deuterium-tritium Pulsed Neutron Generator and a set of a gamma-ray spectrometer and

neutron spectrometer The neutron is a subatomic particle, symbol or , which has a neutral (not positive or negative) charge, and a mass slightly greater than that of a proton. Protons and neutrons constitute the nuclei of atoms. Since protons and neutrons behave ...

to identify the surface composition under the lander. * DraGMet (Dragonfly

Geophysics Geophysics () is a subject of natural science concerned with the physical processes and physical properties of the Earth and its surrounding space environment, and the use of quantitative methods for their analysis. The term ''geophysics'' som ...

and

Meteorology Meteorology is a branch of the atmospheric sciences (which include atmospheric chemistry and physics) with a major focus on weather forecasting. The study of meteorology dates back millennia, though significant progress in meteorology did not ...

Package) is a suite of meteorological sensors including a seismometer. * DragonCam (Dragonfly Camera Suite) is a set of

microscopic The microscopic scale () is the scale of objects and events smaller than those that can easily be seen by the naked eye, requiring a lens (optics), lens or microscope to see them clearly. In physics, the microscopic scale is sometimes regarded a ...

and panoramic

camera A camera is an Optics, optical instrument that can capture an image. Most cameras can capture 2D images, with some more advanced models being able to capture 3D images. At a basic level, most cameras consist of sealed boxes (the camera body), ...

s to image Titan's terrain and scout for scientifically interesting landing sites. * In addition, Dragonfly is to have multiple engineering and monitoring instruments to determine characteristics of Titan's interior and atmosphere.

Trajectory

''Dragonfly'' is expected to launch in July 2028 and to take six years to reach Titan, arriving by 2034. The spacecraft will perform a gravity assist flyby of Earth to gain additional velocity on its way to Titan. The spacecraft would be the first dedicated outer solar system mission to not visit Jupiter, as it will not be within the flight path. AAS-18-416 (preprint)

Entry and descent

The cruise stage is to separate from the entry capsule ten minutes before encountering Titan's atmosphere. The lander would then descend to the surface of Titan using an aeroshell and a series of two

parachute A parachute is a device used to slow the motion of an object through an atmosphere by creating drag or, in a ram-air parachute, aerodynamic lift. A major application is to support people, for recreation or as a safety device for aviators, who ...

s, while the spent cruise stage would burn up in uncontrolled atmospheric entry. The duration of the descent phase is expected to be 105minutes. The aeroshell is derived from the ''

Genesis Genesis may refer to: Bible * Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of mankind * Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Book of ...

'' sample return capsule, and the PICA heat shield is similar to MSL and

design and should protect the spacecraft for the first six minutes of its descent. At a speed of Mach 1.5, a drogue parachute is to deploy, to slow the capsule to subsonic speeds. Due to Titan's comparatively thick atmosphere and low gravity, the drogue chute phase should last for 80 minutes. A larger main parachute is to replace the drogue chute when the descent speed is sufficiently low. During the 20 minutes on the main chute, the lander is to be prepared for separation. The heat shield is to be jettisoned, the landing skids are to be extended, and sensors such as

radar Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance (''ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, w ...

and

lidar Lidar (, also LIDAR, or LiDAR; sometimes LADAR) is a method for determining ranges (variable distance) by targeting an object or a surface with a laser and measuring the time for the reflected light to return to the receiver. It can also be ...

are to be activated. At an altitude of , the lander should be released from its parachute for a powered flight to the surface. The specific landing site and flight operation are to be performed autonomously. This is required since the high gain antenna would not be deployed during descent, and because communication between Earth and Titan takes minutes in each direction.

Landing site

The ''Dragonfly'' rotorcraft should land initially in

dune A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, f ...

s to the southeast of the Selk impact structure at the edge of the dark region called

Shangri-La Shangri-La is a fictional place in Asia's Kunlun Mountains (昆仑山), Uses the spelling 'Kuen-Lun'. described in the 1933 novel ''Lost Horizon'' by English author James Hilton. Hilton portrays Shangri-La as a mystical, harmonious valley, ge ...

. It is planned to explore this region in a series of flights of up to each, and acquire samples from compelling areas with a diverse geography. After landing, it is planned to travel to the Selk impact crater, where in addition to

s, there is evidence of past liquid water. The Selk crater is a geologically young impact crater in diameter, located about north-northwest of the ''Huygens'' lander."Geology of the Selk crater region on Titan from Cassini VIMS observations" J.M. Soderblom, R.H. Brown, L.A. Soderblom, J.W. Barnes, R. Jaumann, Stéphane Le Mouélic, Christophe Sotin, K. Stephan, K.H. Baines, B.J. Buratti, R.N. Clark, and P.D. Nicholson; ''Icarus'' Volume 208, Issue 2, August 2010, Pages 905–912 ()Selk
''Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature'' Accessed on 29 June 2019

Infrared Infrared (IR), sometimes called infrared light, is electromagnetic radiation (EMR) with wavelengths longer than those of visible light. It is therefore invisible to the human eye. IR is generally understood to encompass wavelengths from around ...

measurements and other spectra by the ''Cassini'' orbiter show that the adjacent terrain exhibits a

brightness Brightness is an attribute of visual perception in which a source appears to be radiating or reflecting light. In other words, brightness is the perception elicited by the luminance of a visual target. The perception is not linear to luminance, ...

suggestive of differences in thermal structure or composition, possibly caused by

cryovolcanism A cryovolcano (sometimes informally called an ice volcano) is a type of volcano that erupts volatiles such as water, ammonia or methane into an extremely cold environment that is at or below their freezing point. The process of formation is known ...

generated by the impact a fluidized ejecta blanket and fluid flows, now water ice."Crater topography on Titan: Implications for landscape evolution", C. D. Neish, R.L. Kirk, R. D. Lorenz, V. J. Bray, P. Schenk, B. W. Stiles, E. Turtle, K. Mitchell, A. Hayes, ''Icarus'', 223 (2013) Such a region featuring a mix of organic compounds and water ice is a compelling target to assess how far the

may have progressed at the surface.

References

External links

APL ''Dragonfly'' Web site

Final Study Report on Titan Aerial Daughtercraft
(PDF), 2017

{{Future spaceflights Extraterrestrial aircraft Hopping spacecraft Missions to Saturn New Frontiers program NASA space probes Astrobiology space missions Quadcopters Rotorcraft Titan (moon) 2028 in spaceflight Nuclear-powered aircraft