NASA will launch a mission to reach the largest moon in the solar system in June of 2027. By 2034, the 450 kilogram (990 lbs) nuclear-powered quadcopter will land at the Selk crater region and begin searching for the satellite. The mission will look at the moon's chemistry, methane cycle, and organic environment. The main goal of Dragonfly is to find signs of life.
Scientists have wondered if life could exist on Titan since it appears to have all the necessary ingredients. The 13 years that the Cassini–Huygens mission took to explore the system of moons has only deepened this curiosity. The properties of the surface were determined by a team of Cornell researchers. A map of the landing site shows a landscape of sand dunes and broken up ice.
The research was led by Léa Bonnefoy who is a researcher with the Cornell Center for Astrophysics and Planetary Science. Researchers from the University of Versailles, the Laboratoire Atmosphres, Milieux, Observations Spatiales, and the Applied Physics Laboratory of the University of Baltimore were also present. The paper about their research was published in the journal.
Alex Hayes is the Director of the Spacecraft Planetary Image Facility and is an associate professor of astronomy. Their work has included data from a number of missions. One of the most promising environments to date will be the focus of Dragonfly's investigation.
“Dragonfly – the first flying machine for a world in the outer Solar System – is going to a scientifically remarkable area. Dragonfly will land in an equatorial, dry region of Titan – a frigid, thick-atmosphere, hydrocarbon world. It rains liquid methane sometimes, but it is more like a desert on Earth – where you have dunes, some little mountains and an impact crater.
“We’re looking closely at the landing site, its structure and surface. To do that, we’re examining radar images from the Cassini-Huygens mission, looking at how radar signal changes from different viewing angles. “The radar images we have of Titan through Cassini have a best-resolution of about 300 meters per pixel, about the size of a football field and we have only seen less than 10% of the surface at that scale. This means there are probably a lot of small rivers and landscapes that we couldn’t see.”
The radar images of the larger moons of Titan were taken during the many laps of the moon. The Huygens lander began its descent into the dense atmosphere of Titan on January 14th. During its two-hour descent, the landers gathered data to determine what aerosols and chemicals are in the atmosphere. There were pictures of the surface that showed river valleys that were not seen in the radar images.
Bonnefoy and the group used radar reflectivity from the images to map six terrains in the Selk crater. Knowing the crater's shape will help mission planners identify scientific objectives for the mission. There are organic compounds in the environment that look like sand and form dunes.
The atmosphere of Titan is four times denser than Earth's. This will allow Dragonfly to remain airborne and perform like a drone, researching Titan's atmosphere, surface, and methane lakes in order to learn more about the planet's potential to support life. Said Bonnefeoy.
“Over the next several years, we are going to see a lot of attention paid to the Selk crater region. Lea’s work provides a solid foundation upon which to start building models and making predictions for Dragonfly to test when it explores the area in the mid-2030s. Dragonfly is going to finally show us what the region – and Titan – looks like.”
The data obtained by Dragonfly could help scientists learn more about how life evolved on Earth. It is possible that life emerged on Titan and is still present today. The discovery and study of these potential lifeforms could shed light on how and where life came to be in the Solar System.
Further reading is Cornell University.
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