#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

[spaceexp]

NASA’s Dragonfly mission, which will send a rotorcraft to explore Saturn's moon Titan, has passed its Critical Design Review, meaning its detailed mission plans have been approved and the team can now turn its attention to the construction of the spacecraft itself.

[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😅

[blueguydraws]

Personally i am jealous. There is so much that could be done, i wanna open an animation studio, animated movies have the biggest potential but most of the time the money gets wasted on stuff like the minions, and artists are forced to cut corners constantly. I wanna get the amazon jungle combed thru with lidar, initial flights already showed that there are still way more ancient cities and structures hiding undiscovered in the rain forest than we initially tought, but we still only know but a small fraction of the whole forest. I wanna help funding projects like NASA's dragonfly mission to send a drone to Titan, or to send up the planet seeker telescope sooner beacuse i just cant wait long enough. There are biologists who are trying to grow tissues or even whole organs artifically and ones that are trying to reverse aging, either would revolutionise health care and food production, the one problem is that they also need tons of money for these. I want to bring culture back into fashion Industrialization, mass production, and the modern mindset left us with a bleak and cheap enviroment. From the 1900s some artists already noticed this transformation and in response the art-nouveau and art-deco movements got created as counterballance, wich were fantastic, but they didnt stick thru the war. We should respect ourselfs more, buildings and everyday objects could also be art, and back then they prooved that this is possible, i wanna bring back this idea thru architecture and design. Also i want to travel the world.

The possibilities are endless for those with money, have a bit of creativity.

The hyper-wealthy need broken rules and abandoned morals/ethics to survive.

[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.

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[cavenewstimestoday]

NASA's Dragonfly nuclear-powered helicopter clears key hurdle ahead of 2028 launch toward huge Saturn moon Titan

An illustration of NASA’s Dragonfly rotorcraft soaring in the skies of Saturn’s largest moon, Titan. (Image credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Steve Gribben) NASA’s pioneering Dragonfly mission has cleared a key hurdle, keeping it on track for a 2028 launch to Saturn’s huge moon Titan. Dragonfly, a car-sized, nuclear-powered rotorcraft designed to investigate Titan‘s potential to host life, passed…

[nawapon17]

NASA's Dragonfly nuclear-powered helicopter clears key hurdle ahead of 2028 launch toward huge Saturn moon Titan | Space

[kuiperkat]

September's Night Sky Notes: Marvelous Moons

by Kat Troche of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific

September brings the gas giants Jupiter and Saturn back into view, along with their satellites. And while we organize celebrations to observe our own Moon this month, be sure to grab a telescope or binoculars to see other moons within our Solar System! We recommend observing these moons (and planets!) when they are at their highest in the night sky, to get the best possible unobstructed views.

The More the Merrier

As of September 2024, the ringed planet Saturn has 146 identified moons in its orbit. These celestial bodies range in size; the smallest being a few hundred feet across, to Titan, the second largest moon in our solar system.

The Saturnian system along with various moons around the planet Saturn: Iapetus, Titan, Enceladus, Rhea, Tethys, and Dione. Credit: Stellarium Web

Even at nearly 900 million miles away, Titan can be easily spotted next to Saturn with a 4-inch telescope, under urban and suburban skies, due to its sheer size. With an atmosphere of mostly nitrogen with traces of hydrogen and methane, Titan was briefly explored in 2005 with the Huygens probe as part of the Cassini-Huygens mission, providing more information about the surface of Titan. NASA’s mission Dragonfly is set to explore the surface of Titan in the 2030s.

This mosaic of Saturn's moon Enceladus was created with images captured by NASA's Cassini spacecraft on Oct. 9, 2008, after the spacecraft came within about 16 miles (25 kilometers) of the surface of Enceladus. Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute

Saturn’s moon Enceladus was also explored by the Cassini mission, revealing plumes of ice that erupt from below the surface, adding to the brilliance of Saturn’s rings. Much like our own Moon, Enceladus remains tidally locked with Saturn, presenting the same side towards its host planet at all times.

The Galilean Gang

The King of the Planets might not have the most moons, but four of Jupiter’s 95 moons are definitely the easiest to see with a small pair of binoculars or a small telescope because they form a clear line. The Galilean Moons – Ganymede, Callisto, Io, and Europa – were first discovered in 1610 and they continue to amaze stargazers across the globe.

The Jovian system: Europa, Io, Ganymede, and Callisto. Credit: Stellarium Web

Ganymede: largest moon in our solar system, and larger than the planet Mercury, Ganymede has its own magnetic field and a possible saltwater ocean beneath the surface.

Callisto: this heavily cratered moon is the third largest in our solar system. Although Callisto is the furthest away of the Galilean moons, it only takes 17 days to complete an orbit around Jupiter.

Io: the closest moon and third largest in this system, Io is an extremely active world, due to the push and pull of Jupiter’s gravity. The volcanic activity of this rocky world is so intense that it can be seen from some of the largest telescopes here on Earth.

Europa: Jupiter’s smallest moon also happens to be the strongest candidate for a liquid ocean beneath the surface. NASA’s Europa Clipper is set to launch October 2024 and will determine if this moon has conditions suitable to support life. Want to learn more? Rewatch the July 2023 Night Sky Network webinar about Europa Clipper here.

Be sure to celebrate International Observe the Moon Night here on Earth September 14, 2024, leading up to the super full moon on September 17th! You can learn more about supermoons in our mid-month article on the Night Sky Network page!

[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…