"Dragonfly" Titan explorer drone, NASA funds Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) |
"Dragonfly" Titan explorer drone, NASA funds Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) |
Dec 20 2017, 09:04 PM
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Junior Member Group: Members Posts: 66 Joined: 3-August 12 Member No.: 6454 |
Is there a specific website for this Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) concept for a Titan explorer drone?
Looks to be an RTG powered machine, somewhat reminiscent of MSL Curiosity (RTG sticking out the tail end). But no camera mast, ChemCam, or sampling arm visible in the concept illustration. QUOTE Dec. 20, 2017 RELEASE 17-101 NASA Invests in Concept Development for Missions to Comet, Saturn Moon Titan Dragonfly Dragonfly is a drone-like rotorcraft that would explore the prebiotic chemistry and habitability of dozens of sites on Saturn’s moon Titan, an ocean world in our solar system. Elizabeth Turtle from the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland, is the lead investigator, with APL providing project management. https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-inv...turn-moon-titan |
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Aug 20 2019, 03:47 PM
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Founder Group: Chairman Posts: 14434 Joined: 8-February 04 Member No.: 1 |
The great thing about Titan EDL...you've got PLENTY of time under your parachute.
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Aug 21 2019, 01:49 AM
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Member Group: Members Posts: 613 Joined: 23-February 07 From: Occasionally in Columbia, MD Member No.: 1764 |
The great thing about Titan EDL...you've got PLENTY of time under your parachute. The talent on this forum is impressive. Mike, Doug and Van's responses are all correct (and well-reasoned, I don't think all those details - like rotors being fixed-pitch - have been presented/published, but are obvious when you start to think about them) The EDL sequence as presently conceived (which can be adjusted, as Doug notes, we have oodles of time) is to drop from the backshell and make the transition to powered flight about 1km off the ground to set up for landing site search. More than a couple of minutes of flight, but less than a couple of tens of minutes.. Right at the very beginning of developing Dragonfly I had imagined we might land on a chute, and then do the fancy new rotorcraft stuff after an initial landed mission, but then you are exposed to terrain risks (probably small, but not controllable) for that first landing. And when you consider all the bits you need (hazard sensing, rotors etc.) for flight, you might as well land with them from the get-go. Unlike a rocket-powered skycrane, you can test all that stuff very effectively on Earth. |
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