2019 July 3
Explanation:
If you could fly across Titan, what would you see?
To find out and to better explore this exotic moon of
Saturn, NASA recently green-lighted
Dragonfly,
a mission to
Titan with plans to deploy a helicopter-like drone.
Saturn's moon
Titan
is one of the largest moons in the
Solar System
and the only moon known to have a
thick atmosphere and changing
hydrocarbon lakes.
After development, building, testing, and launch,
Dragonfly is currently scheduled to reach Titan in 2034.
The
featured animated video envisions Dragonfly arriving at Titan,
beginning its airborne exploration,
landing to establishing a radio link back to Earth, and then continuing on to another trans-Titanian flight.
It is hoped that
Dragonfly will not only help humanity better understanding Titan's weather, chemistry, and
changing landscape, but also bolster humanity's understanding of
how life first developed on our young Earth.