Dragonfly (Titan space probe)

*Dragonfly*
	Artist's impression of the Dragonfly spacecraft flying over the surface of Titan
Names	New Frontiers 4
Mission type	Titan rotorcraft
Operator	NASA / APL
COSPAR ID	{{#property:P247}}
Website	dragonfly.jhuapl.edu
Mission duration	Planned:; 10 years; Science phase:; 3.3 years
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft type	Rotorcraft lander
Manufacturer	Applied Physics Laboratory
Landing mass	≈450 kg (990 lb)
Power	70 watts (desired) from an MMRTG
Start of mission
Launch date	5–25 July 2028 (planned)
Rocket	Falcon Heavy
Launch site	Kennedy, LC-39A
Contractor	SpaceX
Invalid value for parameter "type"
Invalid parameter	2034
"location" should not be set for flyby missions	Shangri-La dune fields
"distance" should not be set for missions of this nature	8 km (5.0 mi) per flight (planned)
DraMS
Instruments
DraMS	Dragonfly Mass Spectrometer
DraGNS	Dragonfly Gamma-Ray and Neutron Spectrometer
DraGMet	Dragonfly Geophysics and Meteorology Package
DragonCam	Dragonfly Camera Suite
	; Dragonfly Mission Insignia New Frontiers ← OSIRIS-REx (New Frontiers 5) →

Dragonfly is a planned New Frontiers NASA mission to send a robotic helicopter to Titan, the largest moon of Saturn. It is planned to launch in July 2028 and arrive in 2034. Dragonfly will be the first aircraft to fly on Titan. It will be the first to make controlled, powered flights on any moon. The mission will study the chemistry needed for life and if life could exist on other moons. Dragonfly will use its ability to take off and land in one place to move between different sites on Titan.^[1]^[2]

Overview

NASA image showing Dragonfly mission arriving on Saturn's moon Titan, and flying in its atmosphere

Dragonfly is a mission to Titan, Saturn's largest moon, to study if it could support life and to learn about its chemistry. The mission will use a robotic helicopter to fly to different places on Titan's surface. It will take samples from many areas to study different types of soil and rocks.

Titan is a good place to study for life because its surface has complex chemicals, and both liquid water and liquid hydrocarbons may exist there. These could create conditions similar to early Earth, which is important for studying how life might begin.

If Dragonfly flies successfully, it will become the second rotorcraft to fly on a planet or moon other than Earth. The first was Ingenuity, a helicopter that flew on Mars in 2021 as part of the Perseverance rover mission.^[3]^[4]

Dragonfly (Titan Space Probe) Media

The previously passed over TSSM mission proposed a Titan aircraft in the form of a Montgolfier balloon with a boat-lander gondola.
Dragonfly spacecraft
The Huygens atmospheric probe's descent into Titan, with video and data from 2005
Titan has a dense atmosphere and low gravity compared to Earth, two factors facilitating propelled flight.
The multi-mission radioisotope thermoelectric generator of Mars Science Laboratory, sent to the surface of Mars to power that robotic rover
An artist's concept of the Dragonfly rotorcraft-lander approaching a site on Titan
Shangri-La is the large, dark region at the center of this infrared image of Titan.
The Selk impact crater on Titan, as imaged by the Cassini orbiter's radar, is 90 km (56 mi) in diameter.^[5]