Last updated on December 8th, 2022 at 02:28 pm
Mission to study the satellite of Saturn with a space drone postponed for a year
The US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has announced a delay in the next major interplanetary mission, which will send the Dragonfly spacecraft to explore Titan, Saturn’s largest moon. The start of the project was postponed for a year.
According to initial plans, the US space agency was going to launch the Dragonfly mission in 2026. Now, this event will take place no earlier than in 2027.
This mission is part of NASA’s New Frontiers Program, which aims to explore the least explored regions of the solar system. Within its framework, it is planned to send a multi-rotor research aircraft (space drone) to the surface of the satellite of Saturn.
The robotic flying vehicle is expected to explore Titan for nine years, collecting and analyzing soil samples from various regions of the satellite’s surface. One of the mission’s objectives will also be to investigate the environment of Titan and the suitability of its conditions for the emergence of periodic chemistry on the surface of this icy world.
If the flight to the satellite itself passes according to the fee, then Dragonfly will reach the surface of Titan eight years after its launch, that is, in 2035.
