Dragonfly: Nuclear powered flying drone to explore Titan

[Crispy]

Dragonfly (spacecraft) - Wikipedia

Just announced as the winner of the fourth New Frontiers mission. It'll have a thermal nuclear power pack and will fly around Titan studying the methane atmosphere, the hydrocarbon rain, ice ground and water volcanoes.

Good explainer here: (skip to 1:40)



Launching 2026, arriving 2034

 

[Crispy]

Here's principal investigator, Elizabeth "Zibi" Turtle, describing Titan and Dragonfly in great detail:



(intro goes on and on. she starts at 14:00)

 

[2hats]

Launch now targeting 2027. Dedicated JHU website.

 

[platinumsage]

Powered via a lithium battery so it probably won't be doing a Voyager and sending stuff back in 2070.

 

[2hats]

A space vehicle in an atmospheric environment where chemical/erosional processes dominate by (at least) orders of magnitude compared to those in far interplanetary/interstellar space wouldn't be expected to last decades anyway.

 

[platinumsage]

A space vehicle in an atmospheric environment where chemical/erosional processes dominate by (at least) orders of magnitude compared to those in far interplanetary/interstellar space wouldn't be expected to last decades anyway.

Opportunity lasted 14 years and died because it could no longer get power from its solar panels. It wouldn't surprise me if this also lasts longer than it's designed plan but then fails because of the lithium battery.

 

[2hats]

Opportunity lasted 14 years and died because it could no longer get power from its solar panels. It wouldn't surprise me if this also lasts longer than it's designed plan but then fails because of the lithium battery.

Yes. Not expected to last decades.

 

[Bahnhof Strasse]

Why can't we make spacecraft that fly faster? >6 years to get to Titan is a long time, what happened to plasma propulsion and that?

 

[Pickman's model]

Why can't we make spacecraft that fly faster? >6 years to get to Titan is a long time, what happened to plasma propulsion and that?

you need a dozen monkeys to shovel 50ps into a meter and no one can make a spaceship which can hold enough oxygen or food for the monkeys or enough fuel to lift the necessary 50ps

 

[2hats]

Why can't we make spacecraft that fly faster? >6 years to get to Titan is a long time, what happened to plasma propulsion and that?

Order of 10^5 km/h is what is practical with today's chemical rockets. Significantly faster than even you can achieve in your jalopy.

There are proposals for megawatt plasma propulsion engines that could do the trip in a month or two but would have significant heat rejection requirements and political/safety concerns lofting a substantial nuclear reactor to drive it.