NASA Dragonfly: The Titan mission will land in the Silk Crater region

Although our focus is in this period Drones Flying in the skies of other worlds being captured by The versatility of NASAThe US Space Agency looks to the future and in particular to the outer solar system. the mission NASA Dragonfly Ranges between The most ambitious It will point in the direction Moon of SaturnAnd the Titan.

Also in this case it will be a drone, but due to the difference with the Martian atmosphere, the new device will have a different design and specifications than creativity. The launch date is currently set for 2027 (with scheduled arrival in 2034) and thanks also to Receive new money, NASA must guarantee the completion of the construction.

NASA Dragonfly will point in the direction of the Silk Crater

at New study Recently deployed, the expedition’s potential landing areas are on Titan. The choice fell on an area with dunes near Silk pit. The information comes from surface analysis thanks To the Cassini probe Who has done valuable work also in light of future missions (just like this one).

The choice of this site in particular is due to a series of characteristics that make it suitable. For example, the potential for water-rich sediments and thus has the potential to host (or host) extraterrestrial life but also visibility from Earth to improve connectivity across the Deep Space Network (DSN).

Atmosphere Titan It is denser than Mars while gravity is less. This should allow for a flight “Too agileThanks to the structure Drone From NASA Dragonfly Which includes more rotors than creativity, also due to the different power supply. If Ingenuity uses a small solar panel on the top of the blades, we will instead use in this mission an RTG (Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator) that allows it to be unaffected by the little sunlight reaching Saturn.

There is also to consider that Drone It will be able to fly tens or hundreds of kilometers on the surface of the satellite. The terrain found that the expanse of sand dunes extending over Titan would have few obstacles (such as rocks) and limited slopes. All features that you choose Silk pit.

A complicated task for Titan

Scientists and engineers have tried to extract the largest amount of information from maps made through technologies SAR (Synthetic aperture radar), VIMS (Visible and infrared mapping spectroscopy) e ISS (Imaging Sciences Subsystem). This made it possible to create charts capable of summarizing the characteristics of the terrain, the presence of sand dunes or water ice.

Conclusions of the study regarding Landing site From NASA Dragonfly Report that “The Silk Effect structure provides a variety of surface formations and geological settings at modest distances.”. It is emphasized that the presence of organic matter and the wealth of water ice are important. Even more important is the possibility of sampling where there is liquid water and the organic matter that has reacted.

Adding then that it is a soft surface area, along with the scientific potential, they make up Silk pit An ideal place to explore. Of course, there are still a few years left, but the mission is going as planned, which opens up new possibilities for exploration.