This nuclear-powered drone will explore one of the most interesting celestial bodies in the Solar System – PCW

In the news about space exploration, the Artemis missions aimed at recapturing the moon and the plans for Mars undoubtedly get the most attention, but NASA is also working on other interesting projects, led by the long-planned Dragonfly mission, which aims to explore Saturn’s moon Titan , answering a series of questions about the origin of the Earth.

The centerpiece of the mission is a car-sized drone powered by rotors, which is now certain to be built after Dragonfly received the funding needed to begin work.

NASA recently announced that the US budget plan for 2025 will support the project with $3.35 billion, with a planned launch in July 2028. If everything goes according to the space agency’s plans, the drone designed and built by the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) will arrive in 2034 on the moon, located 1.2 million kilometers from Earth, whose surface is covered by a dense, 95% nitrogen atmosphere.

According to scientists, Titan’s methane-rich surface is characterized by chemical processes similar to those that took place on Earth before the formation of life, so the examination of the celestial body can also provide important lessons regarding the early history of our own home. The eight-rotor, nuclear-powered probe will visit dozens of locations on the distant moon, searching for organic molecules and signs of life.

In a NASA statement, Nicky Fox, associate administrator of the organization’s mission directorate, said that there is broad public interest in Dragonfly, and that the mission will push the limits of what humanity can do with rotary-wing vehicles deployed outside the Earth. Another famous such structure is the Ingenuity Mars helicopter, which after several flights took its last images of the red planet in February.