"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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Sep 9 2019, 05:19 PM
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Member Group: Members Posts: 613 Joined: 23-February 07 From: Occasionally in Columbia, MD Member No.: 1764 |
I'm not going to wade into a big unstructured discussion on environmental risks and preceptions thereof but let me note the following
- a wide range of surface constitutions are being considered (dry, granular, damp, solid, fine-grained, etc.) this is one reason for using wide skids. - the skids stay cold - the drill motors have to be heated for operation, but the drill bit and sample-facing surfaces (like the pneumatic hose for conveying sample) stay cold - the drills can operate rotary-only or rotary-percussive - the sampling system has been tested in a wide range of room temperature Titan simulants and on several materials at cryogenic temperatures There is a presentation on the sampling system (70MB, contains movie) at the IPPW website https://pub-lib.jpl.nasa.gov/docushare/dswe...ials_LORENZ.pdf (there were several other Dragonfly presentations at the same meeting) |
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