Science, Space and Technology News 2024
Artist’s impression of Dragonfly soaring over the dunes of Saturn’s moon Titan. The mission, managed by the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, involves multiple partners and aims to study prebiotic chemical processes using a rotorcraft that will arrive at Titan in 2034. Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Steve Gribben’s moon Titan, has progressed to final design and construction stages with a confirmed launch in 2028 and a budget of $3.35 billion.
NASA has confirmed its Dragonfly rotorcraft mission to Saturn’s organic-rich moon Titan. The decision allows the mission to progress to completion of final design, followed by the construction and testing of the entire spacecraft and science instruments. “Dragonfly is a spectacular science mission with broad community interest, and we are excited to take the next steps on this mission,” said Nicky Fox, associate administrator, Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “Exploring Titan will push the boundaries of what we can do with rotorcraft outside of Earth.”of its Preliminary Design Review. At that time, however, the mission was asked to develop an updated budget and schedule to fit into the current funding environment.
With the release of the president’s fiscal year 2025 budget request, Dragonfly is confirmed with a total lifecycle cost of $3.35 billion and a launch date of July 2028. This reflects a cost increase of about two times the proposed cost and a delay of more than two years from when the mission was originally selected in 2019. Following that selection, NASA had to direct the project to replan multiple times due to funding constraints in fiscal years 2020 through 2022.
Dragonfly is being designed and built under the direction of the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland, which manages the mission for NASA. Elizabeth Turtle of APL is the principal investigator.
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