appConfigEntityId

bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

isVideo

articlePageQuery

article

articleSchemaContent

content

hooksArticlePageAdvertisementConfigArticle

appConfig

filter

json

liveArticle

Agence France-Presse

For its next mission in our solar system, Nasa plans to fly a drone copter to Saturn’s largest moon Titan in search of the building blocks of life, the space agency said on Thursday.
The Dragonfly mission, which will launch in 2026 and land in 2034, will send a rotorcraft to fly to dozens of locations across the icy moon, which has a substantial atmosphere and is viewed by scientists as an equivalent of very early Earth.

It is the only celestial body besides our planet known to have liquid rivers, lakes and seas on its surface, though these contain hydrocarbons like methane and ethane, not water.
“Visiting this mysterious ocean world could revolutionise what we know about life in the universe, ” said Nasa administrator Jim Bridenstine. “This cutting-edge mission would have been unthinkable even just a few years ago, but we’re now ready for Dragonfly’s amazing flight.”
Nasa said the vehicle would have eight rotors and fly like a large drone.

“During its 2.7-year baseline mission, Dragonfly will explore diverse environments from organic dunes to the floor of an impact crater where liquid water and complex organic materials key to life once existed together for possibly tens of thousands of years,” the space agency said in a statement.
“Its instruments will study how far prebiotic chemistry may have progressed. They also will investigate the moon’s atmospheric and surface properties and its subsurface ocean and liquid reservoirs. Additionally, instruments will search for chemical evidence of past or extant life.”
The craft will land first at the equatorial “Shangri-La” dune, exploring the region in short trips before building up to longer “leapfrog” flights of 8km (five miles).

It will stop along in several areas to collect samples before finally reaching the moon’s Selk impact crater, where there is evidence of past liquid water, organic materials and energy: a potential primordial stew.
‘Magic island’ in chilly lake on Saturn moon Titan puzzles space watchers
The hope is the lander will eventually fly more than 175km (108 miles).
Titan’s atmosphere is made mostly of nitrogen, like Earth’s, but is four times more dense. Its clouds and rain are made of methane.

The second-largest moon in the solar system, Titan has a thick water ice crust, beneath which is an ocean made mostly of water.
The underground ocean could harbour life as we know it, while the hydrocarbon lakes and seas on its surface could contain life forms that rely on different chemistries – or the body could be lifeless.
Saturn’s moons may have ‘sculpted’ its rings, study suggests
Titan is about 1.4 billion km (886 million miles) from the Sun, with surface temperatures of about -179 degrees Celsius (-290 degrees Fahrenheit) and surface pressure about 50 per cent higher than Earth.


How stratospheric balloon flights could be about to redefine space tourism

Japan joins hunt for aliens. Can it solve the ‘Wow! Signal’ mystery?

US lawmakers warn China is top space rival as race to the moon intensifies

Trump’s Golden Dome aimed at combating China’s ‘hypersonic weapons, cruise missiles’

Space

Nasa to fly a drone to Saturn’s moon Titan in search of signs of life

The spacecraft Cassini passing Saturn in August 2017. Photo: Nasa/Reuters

epa06143825 An undated handout photo made available by NASA on 14 August 2017 shows an artist's rendering of Cassini as the spacecraft makes one of its final five dives through Saturn's upper atmosphere in August and September 2017. The spacecraft will end its expedition on 15 September 2017, following a series of 22 dives through the 2,400km gap between Saturn and its rings, with a final plunge into the gas giant. The operation aims at gaining insights into the planet's structure and atmosphere as well as at capturing views of its inner rings. NASA's Cassini spacecraft is in orbit around Saturn since 2004. EPA/NASA/JPL-Caltech HANDOUT HANDOUT EDITORIAL USE ONLY/NO SALES

This artist's rendering made available by NASA shows multiple views of the Dragonfly dual-quadcopter lander that would take advantage of the atmosphere on Saturn's moon Titan to explore multiple locations, some hundreds of miles apart. On Thursday, June 2u7, 2019, NASA announced it would send the drone to the jovian planet's largest moon. Scientists have long considered Titan an attractive place to study whether it would be capable of supporting microbial life. (NASA via AP)

This undated true color image by the Cassini spacecraft released by NASA shows Saturn's largest moon, Titan, passing in front of the planet and its rings. A new study released Thursday, June 28, 2012 suggests there may be an ocean below Titan's frigid surface. (AP Photo/NASA)

This image released 27 October, 2004, by NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute shows SAturn's moon Titan in ultraviolet and infrared wavelengths. It was taken by Cassini's imaging science subsystem on 26 October, and is constructed from four images acquired through different color filters. Red and green colors represent infrared wavelengths and show areas where atmospheric methane absorbs light. The US-European spacecraft Cassini-Huygens late Tuesday beamed to Earth the first of some 500 images of Saturn's moon Titan, after making its historic flyby skimming its hazy atmosphere, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California announced. To travel the 2.1 billion kilometers (1.3 billion miles), the image-bearing signal from Cassini-Huygens takes about one hour and 14 minutes. AFP PHOTO/NASA/JPL/SPACE SCIENCE INSTITUTE

Saturn’s moon Titan. Photo: handout

News

World

United States & Canada

Craft will fly around the moon’s surface collecting samples before reaching the Selk impact crater, where there is evidence water once flowed


Craft will fly around the moon’s surface collecting samples before reaching the Selk impact crater, where there is evidence water once flowed.


Nasa to fly a drone to Saturn’s moon Titan in search of signs of life

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;}Craft will fly around the moon’s surface collecting samples before reaching the Selk impact crater, where there is evidence water once flowed

Craft will fly around the moon’s surface collecting samples before reaching the Selk impact crater, where there is evidence water once flowed