#Dragonfly Titan Mission

[mindblowingscience]

NASA's delayed Dragonfly drone mission to Saturn's largest moon Titan is on track to launch in July 2028, the space agency confirmed late Tuesday (April 16). The highly anticipated decision greenlights the mission team to proceed to final mission design and testing in preparation for the revised launch date. The car-sized Dragonfly, which is being built by the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland, will reach Titan in 2034. For the next 2.5 years, the nuclear-powered drone is expected to perform one hop every Titan day — 16 days to us Earthlings — hunting for prebiotic chemical processes at various pre-selected locations on the frigid moon, which is known to contain organic materials. 

Continue Reading.

[spacenutspod]

Astronomy Daily - The Podcast: S03E220 Welcome to Astronomy Daily, your ultimate source for the latest cosmic discoveries and space exploration news. I'm your host, Anna, and today we have a stellar lineup of stories that will take you from Saturn's moon Titan to the early Daily of our planet and beyond. Highlights: - Dragonfly Mission to Titan: Discover NASA's ambitious Dragonfly mission, set to launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket. This revolutionary rotorcraft will explore Saturn's moon Titan, searching for life's building blocks in its dense atmosphere and liquid methane lakes. - Asteroid Mining Realities: Explore the latest study from Astroforge, which offers a grounded perspective on asteroid mining. Learn about the potential of platinum group metals and the challenges of extracting construction metals for space infrastructure. - Early Earth Reimagined: Delve into new research from the University of California that challenges the hellish view of Earth's Hadean era, suggesting that liquid water and conditions for life existed much earlier than previously thought. - Dark Energy Insights: Uncover groundbreaking findings from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument collaboration, revealing dynamic properties of dark energy and confirming Einstein's relativity on cosmic scales. - Universe Simulation Breakthrough: Celebrate the creation of the largest universe simulation by the Argonne National Laboratory, offering unprecedented insights into the formation of galaxies and cosmic structures. - GPS Infrastructure Upgrade: Learn about the Space Force's significant contract with Raytheon to enhance GPS capabilities with the Next Generation Operational Control System, focusing on cybersecurity and precision. For more cosmic updates, visit our website at astronomydaily.io. Sign up for our free Daily newsletter to stay informed on all things space. Join our community on social media by searching for #AstroDailyPod on Facebook, X, YouTube, Tumblr, and TikTok. Share your thoughts and connect with fellow space enthusiasts. Thank you for tuning in. This is Anna signing off. Until next time, keep looking up and stay curious about the wonders of our universe. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/astronomy-daily-the-podcast--5648921/support For more support options, visit https://spacenutspodcast.com/about ✍️ Episode References NASA Dragonfly Mission [NASA Dragonfly](https://www.nasa.gov/dragonfly) SpaceX [SpaceX](https://www.spacex.com/) Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory [Johns Hopkins APL](https://www.jhuapl.edu/) Astroforge [Astroforge](https://astroforge.io/) University of California [University of California](https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/) Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument [DESI](https://www.desi.lbl.gov/) Argonne National Laboratory [Argonne National Laboratory](https://www.anl.gov/) Raytheon [Raytheon](https://www.rtx.com/) Space Force [U.S. Space Force](https://www.spaceforce.mil/) Astronomy Daily [Astronomy Daily](https://astronomydaily.io/)

[michaelgabrill]

NASAs Dragonfly Rotorcraft Mission to Saturns Moon Titan Confirmed

NASA has confirmed its Dragonfly rotorcraft mission to Saturn’s organic-rich moon Titan. The decision allows the mission to progress to completion of final design, followed by the construction and testing of the entire spacecraft and science instruments. “Dragonfly is a spectacular science mission with broad community interest, and we are excited to take the next […] from NASA https://ift.tt/86UhxDR

[lonestarflight]

The Ingenuity Rover's Helicopter, nicknamed Ginny, is broken and alone

"In this most recent photo of Ingenuity, the dual-rotor 'copter can be seen motionless on a sandy dune in the background, as a barren, rocky Mars landscape fills the foreground.

The photo was taken on Feb. 4, 2024, at 1:05 p.m. local mean solar time, a little over two weeks since it suffered its mission-ending damage.

NASA and JPL's Ingenuity helicopter on the surface of Mars as seen by the Perseverance rover's Mastcam-Z camera on Feb. 4, 2024.

Ingenuity suffered damage to its rotors during a flight on Jan. 18 as it made a landing on a featureless, "bland" patch of sandy Martian landscape. The helicopter usually makes use of landscape features such as rocks to help it navigate, but its 72nd flight found the drone without visual cues.

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is still analyzing the damage to Ingenuity's blades, but regardless of what JPL finds, the helicopter's mission has officially come to an end now that it's no longer capable of flight.

Ingenuity landed alongside its robotic companion, the Perseverance rover, on Feb. 18, 2021. When it took to the Martian skies in April 2021, Ingenuity made history by conducting the first flight of a powered aircraft on another planet.

The Ingenuity-Perseverance duo has been exploring an area known as Jezero Crater ever since, discovering signs of ancient bodies of water on the Red Planet that may have once harbored life billions of years ago. Ingenuity served as a scout for Perseverance, identifying areas of interest for the rover to explore.

In recent weeks as NASA and JPL have been coming to terms with the end of Ingenuity's groundbreaking mission, agency leaders have praised the helicopter and the teams behind it.

'We couldn't be prouder or happier with how our little baby has done,' said Teddy Tzanetos, Ingenuity Project Manager at JPL, during a livestreamed tribute to the helicopter on Jan. 31. 'It's been the mission of a lifetime for all of us. And I wanted to say thank you to all of the people here that gave their weekends, their late nights. All the engineers, the aerodynamic scientists, the technicians who hand-crafted this aircraft.'

Tiffany Morgan, NASA's Mars Exploration Program Deputy Director, added that Ingenuity leaves behind a legacy that could pave the way for future aerial missions on other worlds.

This image, which shows the shadow of a damaged rotor on NASA's Mars helicopter Ingenuity, was taken after its 72nd and final flight on Jan. 18, 2024 on the Red Planet.

'The NASA JPL team didn't just demonstrate the technology, they demonstrated an approach that if we use in the future will really help us to explore other planets and be as awe-inspiring, as amazing, as Ingenuity has been,' Morgan said during the livestream.

NASA is already developing another drone destined for another world, the nuclear-powered Dragonfly, to someday explore Saturn's largest moon, Titan. The agency expects Dragonfly to launch no earlier than 2028."

[spacetimewithstuartgary]

Saturn’s moon Titan has insulating methane-rich crust up to six miles thick

Saturn’s largest moon Titan is the only place other than Earth known to have an atmosphere and liquids in the form of rivers, lakes and seas on its surface. Because of its extremely cold temperature, the liquids on Titan are made of hydrocarbons like methane and ethane, and the surface is made of solid water ice. A new study, led by planetary scientists at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, revealed that methane gas may also be trapped within the ice, forming a distinct crust up to six miles thick, which warms the underlying ice shell and may also explain Titan's methane-rich atmosphere.

The research team, led by research associate Lauren Schurmeier, that also includes Gwendolyn Brouwer, doctoral candidate, and Sarah Fagents, associate director and researcher, in the Hawai‘i Institute of Geophysics and Planetology (HIGP) in the UH Mānoa School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST), observed in NASA data that Titan’s impact craters are hundreds of meters shallower than expected and only 90 craters have been identified on this moon. 

“This was very surprising because, based on other moons, we expect to see many more impact craters on the surface and craters that are much deeper than what we observe on Titan,” said Schurmeier. “We realized something unique to Titan must be making them become shallower and disappear relatively quickly.”

To investigate what might be beneath this mystery, the researchers tested in a computer model how the topography of Titan might relax or rebound after an impact if the ice shell was covered with a layer of insulating methane clathrate ice, a kind of solid water ice with methane gas trapped within the crystal structure. Since the initial shape of Titan's craters is unknown, the researchers modeled and compared two plausible initial depths, based on fresh-looking craters of similar size on a similar-size icy moon, Ganymede.

“Using this modeling approach, we were able to constrain the methane clathrate crust thickness to five to ten kilometers [about three to six miles] because simulations using that thickness produced crater depths that best matched the observed craters,” said Schurmeier. “The methane clathrate crust warms Titan's interior and causes surprisingly rapid topographic relaxation, which results in crater shallowing at a rate that is close to that of fast-moving warm glaciers on Earth.”

Methane-rich atmosphere 

Estimating the thickness of the methane ice shell is important because it may explain the origin of Titan's methane-rich atmosphere and helps researchers understand Titan's carbon cycle, liquid methane-based "hydrological cycle," and changing climate. 

“Titan is a natural laboratory to study how the greenhouse gas methane warms and cycles through the atmosphere,” said Schurmeier. “Earth's methane clathrate hydrates, found in the permafrost of Siberia and below the arctic seafloor, are currently destabilizing and releasing methane. So, lessons from Titan can provide important insights into processes happening on Earth.”

Structure of Titan

The topography seen on Titan makes sense in light of these new findings. And constraining the thickness of the methane clathrate ice crust indicates that Titan's interior is likely warm--not cold, rigid, and inactive as previously thought.

“Methane clathrate is stronger and more insulating than regular water ice,” said Schurmeier. “A clathrate crust insulates Titan's interior, makes the water ice shell very warm and ductile, and implies that Titan's ice shell is or was slowly convecting.”

“If life exists in Titan's ocean under the thick ice shell, any signs of life (biomarkers) would need to be transported up Titan's ice shell to where we could more easily access or view them with future missions,” Schurmeier added. “This is more likely to occur if Titan's ice shell is warm and convecting.”

With the NASA Dragonfly mission to Titan scheduled to launch in July 2028 and arrive in 2034, researchers will have an opportunity to make up-close observations of this moon and further investigate the icy surface, including a crater named Selk.  

IMAGE: Proposed diagram of Titan's interior (not to scale), showing a methane clathrate crust over a convecting ice shell.  Credit Schurmeier, et al., 2024

[veryobsessedchild]

(Old) Intro Post:)

So I finally decided to create an intro post:) Maybe I’ll add art of me at some point, who knows.

First of all, what can you call me? So, I’m not really comfortable having my actual name out here on the internet, idk why, maybe so that people I know in real life don’t find me🫣 Anyway I still want my internet friends to have a name to call me, so just call me Amber or Am (I honestly really like the nickname😣) Idk why I explained all of that, but I’d feel bad if I didn’t clarify that Amber isn’t like, my legal name lol😅

Pronouns:) My pronouns are they/she. I think that I prefer they, but if it’s easier for you, I’m ok with she too.

INTERESTS!!!! So my main two overall interests are theatre and space, but I will get into shows and books sometimes too, but they usually have some kind of connection to theatre or space that gets me into them😅

Here’s the theatre part:3 Some musicals that I like are bmc, rtc, beetlejuice, heathers, hamilton, once upon a mattress, the lightning thief as well as literally any Starkid or tcb musical:) If you like theatre you should totally be my friend🤭

Space part!!! So I really need to emphasize just how much I love space. It’s so cool to me, and I could probably talk about it for hours!!! My favorite thing to learn about is probably the different moons in our solar system. Some of my favorite moons are: Titan (absolute favorite<3 please talk to me about the Dragonfly mission🙏), Luna (our moon, please talk to me about the Artemis Missions🙏) Io😻, Triton, Phobos, Deimos, Europa, Enceladus and Charon<3333 Also, it’s not just moons I like, it’s literally ANYTHING space related (like the Voyager Missions too, I loveeee those😻😻😻) so if you like space at all pleaseeeeeeee talk to me🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏

Some other general interests now:) I really like Percy Jackson so I’m also into mythology, I like dinosaurs and learning about evolution and animals and basically anything cool in science😽 I also like history and geography, and I think that it’s worth mentioning that I memorized all of the country flags of the world as well as where all the countries are on a map just to prove that I could because I’m just oh so normal😅

Erm…so I’ve seen people put their mental disorders on these so yeah, I’ll just say. I’m not diagnosed with anything nor has anyone told me that I should try to seek a diagnosis, but I don’t think that I would be horribly surprised if not everything was working correctly up there😅 Anyway, putting this here so that you guys can educate me if I say something stupid.

Random things now:3 I make art (mostly fanart), and I’d love you forever if you interacted with it🫣 I also wanna start writing fanfiction but I’ve had some trouble being motivated so if I do make anything, it may end up being on the shorter side. I’m also open to my mutuals messaging me so if you wanna be my friend (that’d be so cool😣) please message me!!! I love friends!!!

If you read all of that, I am thoroughly impressed. Ik that I have too much to say about myself but it’s my blog so yeah😅

[sb-saturns-blog]

What do you think about the earthlings upcomming Dragonfly mission to titan?

-👽 anon

i haven't heard of that yet, but I'm excited!!! I'll tell him right away!

[mindblowingscience]

NASA has set a provisional launch date of July 2028 for its Dragonfly mission, meant to explore Saturn’s largest moon Titan, with budgetary uncertainty cited as the reason for the project’s one-year delay. The Dragonfly team can now move forward with the next stage of development  —  Phase C  —  for the car-sized, nuclear-powered rotorcraft drone that will fly above and land on the sands of Titan, a world planetary scientists believe is rich in organic molecules. "The Dragonfly team has successfully overcome a number of technical and programmatic challenges in this daring endeavor to gather new science on Titan," NASA Science Mission Directorate associate administrator Nicola Fox said in a statement. "I am proud of this team and their ability to keep all aspects of the mission moving." At NASA’s Outer Planets Assessment Group (OPAG) meeting on Nov. 28, the director of the agency's planetary science division, Lori Glaze, revealed the reason for the launch delay  —  originally set to head to Titan in 2027. She said that formal confirmation of Dragonfly and the official costing and scheduling of the mission by NASA’s Agency Program Management Council (APMC) had been postponed due to uncertainty about how much money would be available for the project.

Continue Reading.

[spacenutspod]

This episode of Space Nuts is brought to you with the support of NordVPN. For our special discount deal and 30 day money back guarantee, visit nordvpn.com/spacenuts ...You'll be glad you did! Embark on a cosmic exploration with your favorite interstellar enthusiasts, Andrew Dunkley and Professor Fred Watson, in this latest episode of Space Nuts. Today's celestial journey takes us to Saturn's moon, Titan, where new research casts a shadow on the prospects of finding life in its sub-ice oceans. Despite the rich hydrocarbons on Titan's surface, the study by astrobiologist Catherine Neish suggests that the transfer of essential organic materials to the ocean below is far too slow to foster life as we know it. The implications of this finding could extend to other icy moons, potentially dampening hopes for habitability across our solar system. Then, we pivot to Earthly matters as we join the United Nations' cosmic conversation. The UN has finally agreed to tackle the burgeoning issue of satellite constellations cluttering our orbit. With over 8,000 satellites circling our planet and plans for many more, astronomers are increasingly concerned about light pollution and radio interference. But can the UN's agenda lead to effective regulation, or will it be a case of too little, too late in the fast-paced space industry? From the icy depths of Titan to the crowded skies of Earth, this episode of Space Nuts is a testament to the ever-evolving quest for knowledge and the challenges of preserving our cosmic frontiers. So, sit back, tune in, and let your imagination take flight as we unravel these astronomical enigmas. For the full spectrum of space-time adventures and to keep your astronomical curiosity quenched, subscribe to Space Nuts on your preferred podcast platform. And don't forget to tune in to our Space Nuts Q&A episodes every Monday for more cosmic queries and celestial insights. Until next time, keep your eyes to the stars and your passion for discovery burning bright! 📋 Episode Chapters (00:00) Professor Fred Watson joins us on this episode of Space Nuts (02:02) New study suggests Titan's subsurface ocean could be right for potential life (10:35) There have been speculations that Titan could have a different basis of life (13:47) Andrew Dunkley says there will be methane and ethane rainbows on Titan (15:32) United nations to meet later this year to discuss concentrations of satellites (25:38) Space company SpaceX to deorbit 100 older starlink satellites to reduce satellite interference

[plegdoctor]

Happy astromonday!!

Ending the Saturn asks I wanted to talk about the Cassini-Huygens mission.

Named for the two 17th century astronomers who adored him, it launched in 1997, arriving at Saturn in 2003, and ended in 2017, a month shy of 20 years. It was the first mission reaching Saturn since Voyager in the 1980s, to learn more about him and gain understanding about the solar system and the beginnings of life.

This mission has given us so much information, including the discovery of six new moons, landing a probe on Titan and sending us pictures of his surface (the first ever), finding evidence of water on Enceladus, and more information on the rings; plus so many stunning pictures. All the beautiful photos of Saturn in the last 20 years have been thanks to this mission. But the ending was for me the most emotional thing to learn.

In 2017, recognising that the craft was running out of fuel, but also not wanting it to interfere with his intricate moon and ring systems, it was decided to send Cassini on one final mission: directly into Saturn's atmosphere. This mission was done with the view of gaining information about his atmosphere until Cassini stopped responding, as it would have destroyed Cassini from heat and pressure. The picture today is one of the last from the craft.

I can't help thinking of the engineers, putting love and hard work and craftsmanship into a machine which they know they will never see again, something that gave us so much information but can't ever return and there is no physical keepsake of, except in Saturn. I found it kind of haunting to think about, the love these people have for their missions, sending them to space knowing they will never get them back.

The next planned mission around Saturn is called Dragonfly. Due to launch in 2027 it will go to Titan, to learn more about his biochemistry and gain understanding on life.

I hope you've liked this little mini series on Saturn!! Have a fantastic day!! 🪐

This is the most gorgeous and heartbreaking astromonday ever

“Named for the two 17th century astronomers who adored him” stop im already too soft over planets

The engineers sending off their projects that they poured so much love into and it’s all just on Saturn and they can never see it again I just

[kepler77]

The robots in question are Perseverance, and Ingenuity, which where actually a joint mission. Ingenuity is a drone and is the first to take flight not on earth. Hopefully it won't be the last, NASA currently has plans for a mission called Dragonfly, that would land a autonomous drone on Saturns most mysterious moon Titan. Anyways, Perseverance is the sequel to Curiosity, and both rovers intended on finding signs of life on the red planet. Perseverance has actually left samples on the surface for a return mission to earth later.

LOVE WINS???!?!??!?!

[spacetodaypt]

A Mission to Dive Titan’s Lakes – and Soar Between Them

Titan is one of the solar system’s most fascinating worlds for several reasons. It has something akin to a hydrological cycle, though powered by methane. It is the solar system’s second-largest moonMooner our own. It is the only other body with liquid lakes on its surface. That’s part of the reason it has attracted so much attention, including an upcoming mission known as Dragonfly that hopes to…

[astroimages]

CONHEÇA A MISSÃO QUE PRETENDE MERGULHAR NOS LAGOS DE TITÃ

VISITE A NOVA SPACE TODAY STORE E ADQUIRA A SUA COLEÇÃO EM HOMENAGEM AOS 10 ANOS DE INTERESTELAR!!! https://www.spacetodaystore.com.br/kit-10-anos-interestelar-com-4-camisetas-preta BAIXE E SE INSCREVA GRATUITAMENTE NO SPACE TODAY PLUS!!! https://app.spacetoday.com.br/CADASTRO Titã é um dos mundos mais fascinantes do sistema solar por várias razões. Ele tem algo parecido com um ciclo hidrológico, embora alimentado por metano. É a segunda maior lua do sistema solar, o nosso próprio. É o único outro corpo com lagos líquidos em sua superfície. Essa é parte da razão pela qual atraiu tanta atenção, incluindo uma missão futura conhecida como Dragonfly, que espera usar sua atmosfera espessa para alimentar um pequeno helicóptero. Mas algumas das características mais interessantes de Titã são seus lagos, e Dragonfly, devido aos seus meios de locomoção, não pode fazer muito com eles além de observá-los de longe. Então, outra missão, inicialmente concebida por James McKevitt, então um estudante de graduação na Universidade de Loughborough, mas agora um aluno de doutorado na University College London, daria uma olhada em sua superfície e abaixo dela. A missão, que passou por várias iterações, foi inicialmente projetada para imitar o movimento de caça de um gannet. Esta ave marinha mergulha na água para procurar peixes e então flutua de volta para o topo antes de partir novamente. No artigo original descrevendo o conceito da missão, o Sr. McKevitt se concentrou na hidrodinâmica de como tal missão seria possível em Titã, incluindo a física de mergulhar em um lago de metano líquido sem quebrar a sonda. Felizmente, os lagos mais fascinantes de Titã estão todos agrupados ao redor do polo norte, então seria teoricamente possível pular entre um lago e outro, desde que houvesse impulso/potência suficiente. No entanto, com o passar do tempo, o conceito original da missão parecia cada vez menos viável — especialmente considerando o máximo necessário para decolar de uma posição de repouso no topo de um lago e mergulhar fundo o suficiente no próximo lago para fazer uma diferença significativa no ambiente. Fraser discute a importância de uma missão para Titã. De particular preocupação era o sistema de energia – RTGs, o único sistema atual que alimentaria de forma viável tal sonda na superfície totalmente envolvida de Titã, seria muito pesado para tal arquitetura de missão. Então, o Sr. McKevitt mudou de tática e criou algo totalmente diferente. Durante a COVID-19, ele criou uma organização conhecida como Conex Research para explorar missões complexas em um formato de think-tank colaborativo. Ele então adaptou o Astraeus, como a missão era conhecida, para um formato mais viável, que foi então descrito no site da Conex. Em um comunicado à imprensa de agosto de 2022, a missão havia se transformado em um sistema de quatro partes. A primeira é uma “Nave Espacial Orbital Principal”, que orbitaria a Lua Moondeploy dois veículos menores – Mayfly e Manta. Como seus nomes sugerem, Mayfly voaria como uma plataforma de observação aérea, enquanto Manta mergulharia nos lagos que eram tão intrigantes na arquitetura original da missão. Uma série de Cubesats 2U, chamados “Mites”, também se juntariam a eles e mediriam diferentes partes da atmosfera de Titã durante um período de descida lenta após serem liberados do MOS. FONTE: https://www.conexresearch.com/news/mission-to-titan/ #TITAN #LIFE #UNIVERSE