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Drone set to search for signs of life on Saturn's moon Titan
NASA is sending a drone to Saturn’s largest moon, Titan. There it will explore dozens of locations across the icy world, sampling and measuring its chemical composition, to find out whether the environment on Titan has the potential to support microbial life. The nuclear-powered rotorcraft, described as a "dual-quadcopter", is called Dragonfly. It is part of NASA's New Frontiers programme, a series of space exploration missions that includes the New Horizons and Juno missions. Dragonfly is due to be launched in 2026 and will land on Titan in 2034 after a journey of around a billion kilometres.
Titan, the second largest moon in the Solar System is larger than the planet Mercury. As it orbits Saturn, it is about 1.4 billion kilometres (886 million miles) from the Sun. Its surface temperature is around -179°C (-290°F). Titan's surface air pressure is also 50% higher than Earth’s.
Titan’s landscape is dominated by rivers, lakes and seas of liquid methane and ethane. Its surface is composed of deep-frozen water ice, while beneath its crust lies a warm water ocean. Liquid water is erupted to the surface by volcanic activity.
Scientists have long considered Titan potentially capable of supporting microbial life. This is because it is a world of complex organic molecules. According to Cassini's discoveries from 2008, Titan possesses an abundance of all the elements necessary to support life. The atmosphere contains plentiful oxygen, hydrogen and nitrogen, as well as clouds and rain of methane. Other organic chemicals are formed in the atmosphere and fall as light snow. In fact, the conditions on Titan are similar those on Earth 4 billion years ago, just before life took hold.
Dragonfly's findings could help to reveal how life arose on our planet. This, in turn, could offer valuable insights into the search for life elsewhere in the Galaxy.
During its mission, currrently planned to last 2 years 8 months, the Dragonfly drone will explore different environments. These include dunes and the floor of an impact crater, where liquid water and complex organic materials existed together for possibly tens of thousands of years. Its instruments—similar to those carried by NASA's Curiosity Mars rover—will study whether and how far the chemistry leading to the beginnings of life has progressed. They also will investigate the moon’s atmosphere, its lakes and seas and its subsurface ocean. Dragonfly will also search for chemical evidence of past life or even life that may exist today.
Dragonfly will be nuclear powered, rather than solar powered (Titan's atmosphere is too thick to allow enough sunlight to penetrate). The drone will eventually fly more than 175 kilometres (108 miles) in its quest to uncover Titan's secrets.
All photos and video: NASA
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