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Author
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Topic: [Discuss] NASA's Dragonfly Titan lander
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Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 44712
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 06-27-2019 03:23 PM
   
Please use this topic to discuss NASA's Dragonfly mission to send a rotocraft lander to Saturn's moon Titan. |
Headshot
Member Posts: 945
From: Vancouver, WA, USA
Registered: Feb 2012
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posted 06-27-2019 04:41 PM
Maybe I missed it, but did NASA elaborate on what the energy source for the rotor system would be? |
AstroCasey
Member Posts: 57
From:
Registered: Feb 2019
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posted 06-27-2019 05:06 PM
I read it will use a RTG (radioisotope thermoelectric generator). |
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Member Posts: 945
From: Vancouver, WA, USA
Registered: Feb 2012
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posted 06-27-2019 05:57 PM
Thanks for the feedback.If I am correct, a standard RTG will only weigh about ten pounds on Titan, so that should work fine. The RTG's mass might also make the craft more stable when encountering wind currents etc. |
SkyMan1958
Member Posts: 924
From: CA.
Registered: Jan 2011
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posted 06-27-2019 06:28 PM
I think this is a really neat mission to try. Still I do wonder about air currents affecting the probe when the weather is stormy.In the article released today it mentioned that the Dragonfly will land in a dune covered area. It also mentioned that the air was relatively calm. I find it a little hard to combine the two statements. |
denali414
Member Posts: 704
From: Raleigh, NC
Registered: Aug 2017
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posted 06-28-2019 01:22 PM
Exciting times! This mission has a real shot at finding life on another world. It will probably be unlike anything we can imagine at this point — but all the ingredients are there for life. To see a world that is still in the formation stage and who knows what is under the ice? So glad this will happen in my lifetime. quote:
Originally posted by SkyMan1958:
I find it a little hard to combine the two statements.
Weirdly the dunes on Titan are thought to be caused by occasional storms going in the opposite direction of the prevalent east to west winds that blow 90% of the time. So landing near the dunes on the lee side of the dune should be relatively calm most of the time. |
Blackarrow
Member Posts: 3210
From: Belfast, United Kingdom
Registered: Feb 2002
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posted 09-28-2020 09:31 AM
This looks like a great mission, but there comes a point in your life when you realise you can't automatically assume you'll be around to see the results of the mission coming in. |
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Member Posts: 945
From: Vancouver, WA, USA
Registered: Feb 2012
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posted 09-28-2020 10:48 AM
Somewhat wistfully, I concur. If Dragonfly advances according to schedule, I will be in my mid-80s by the it flies over Titan's surface. Should I still be around, I don't know if I will even care about space exploration at that point.But from the time Alan Shepard launched on MR-3 and Mariner II flew past Venus until now, it has been one heckava ride. All the "firsts" I/we have seen cannot be repeated, only built upon. |
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