Dragonfly, a rotorcraft lander to visit multiple locations on Saturn's largest moon, Titan, is NASA's 4th New Frontiers mission and is presently in development. Dragonfly will perform in situ exploration using aerial mobility to traverse Titan's surface to study prebiotic chemical processes and document the habitability of a carbon-rich ocean world in the outer solar system, where the key ingredients for life have been available on the surface. Dragonfly will address fundamental questions:•What makes a world habitable? Dragonfly will investigate Titan's methane hydrological cycle, geologic processing, and opportunities for organics and liquid water to mix.•What chemical processes led to the development of life? Dragonfly will inventory the diversity of complex carbon- rich materials and the chemistry at work on Titan's surface, revolutionizing our understanding of prebiotic chemistry in the Solar System.•Has life developed elsewhere in our Solar System? Dragonfly will make measurements that allow for a broad, contextualized search for potential chemical biosignatures.The Dragonfly Team passed the Mission’s Preliminary Design Review (PDR) in early March 2023, demonstrating technical readiness to proceed to final design and fabrication in Phase C. We will present the current plan for the Dragonfly Mission and its exploration of Titan.


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    Title :

    Dragonfly: In Situ Aerial Exploration to Understand Titan's Prebiotic Chemistry and Habitability


    Contributors:


    Publication date :

    2024-03-02


    Size :

    5837029 byte




    Type of media :

    Conference paper


    Type of material :

    Electronic Resource


    Language :

    English