{"id":24389,"date":"2023-01-13T17:59:56","date_gmt":"2023-01-13T09:59:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/dragonfly-mission-heads-toward-pdr-element-fabrication-from-lockheed-martin-set-to-begin\/"},"modified":"2023-01-13T17:59:56","modified_gmt":"2023-01-13T09:59:56","slug":"dragonfly-mission-heads-toward-pdr-element-fabrication-from-lockheed-martin-set-to-begin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/dragonfly-mission-heads-toward-pdr-element-fabrication-from-lockheed-martin-set-to-begin\/","title":{"rendered":"Dragonfly mission heads toward PDR, element fabrication from Lockheed Martin set to begin"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dragonfly, NASA\u2019s unique robotic exploration mission using a rotorcraft to fly a science laboratory around the surface of Saturn\u2019s moon Titan, is continuing to march through its preliminary design steps.<\/p>\n

Rotor design and testing for the craft as well as Preliminary Design Reviews (PDRs) from Lockheed Martin on the subsystem portions of their contracted elements for Dragonfly are all proceeding ahead of the overall mission-level PDR slated for February 2023.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

The Mission<\/p>\n

The Dragonfly mission, proposed by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL), was selected by NASA as the fourth New Frontiers program flight on June 27, 2019.<\/p>\n

After arriving on Titan, Dragonfly will fly itself from exploration point to exploration point across a portion of Saturn\u2019s moon. It will utilize vertical takeoffs and landings, a capability recently tested on an extraterrestrial world for the first time by the Ingenuity<\/em> rotorcraft that rode along to Mars with the Perseverance<\/em> rover in 2020.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The dual-quadcopter design of Dragonfly, seen in this artist\u2019s render (left to right) in the arrival, landing, and operational phases of its mission on Titan. (Credit: NASA)<\/p>\n

Dragonfly will enable an astrobiology mission to assess Titan\u2019s microbial habitability and study its prebiotic chemistry. The mobile nature of the mission will allow sampling from numerous geologically diverse sites.<\/p>\n

Titan is a prime target for astrobiologists due to its abundance of complex carbon-rich chemistry and the fact that liquid hydrocarbons exist on its surface. Liquid hydrocarbons hold the possibility of forming a prebiotic primordial soup \u2013 a leading theory for how life first emerged on Earth.<\/p>\n

See Also<\/h4>\n
    \n
  • Dragonfly Mission Updates<\/li>\n
  • (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle <\/li>\n
  • Space Science Forum Section<\/li>\n
  • L2 Exploration Section<\/li>\n
  • Click here to Join L2<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    But to perform its mission, Dragonfly first needs to be built and then safely delivered to Titan.<\/p>\n

    Getting to Titan<\/p>\n

    Lockheed Martin is the prime contractor for the design, fabrication, and testing of Dragonfly\u2019s cruise stage as well as the aeroshell, backshell, and thermal protection systems. These will be utilized during the mission\u2019s cruise and nail-biting entry, descent, and landing (EDL) phases.<\/p>\n

    The aeroshell will, in part, protect Dragonfly from the extreme conditions of interplanetary space during the planned approximately six-and-a-half-year cruise out to Titan.<\/p>\n

    One item that mission designers have to contend with at this stage of planning is the fact that the launch vehicle has not yet been selected, and the launch vehicle ultimately chosen will dictate the precise transit time from Earth to the Saturnian system.<\/p>\n

    While generalized timelines can be assessed and presented to launch companies by NASA for mission needs, the exact duration of an interplanetary cruise depends on several factors. These include the total amount of energy the launch vehicle can impart to the payload, which interplanetary window (if more than one is available) is chosen to launch within, and the exact day in that window that the launch occurs.<\/p>\n

    Regardless, it will be a long cruise, and that presents challenges over past missions that have used interplanetary aeroshell cruise stages \u2014 mainly those that have delivered rovers to Mars.<\/p>\n