"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) |
Oct 27 2022, 01:35 PM
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#196
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Member Group: Members Posts: 447 Joined: 1-July 05 From: New York City Member No.: 424 |
Interesting article in Aerospace America:
QUOTE Designing Dragonfly, NASA’s Titan Explorer A planetary lander that can fly to new sampling sites will be able to do far more surface science than a slow, trundling rover. Easy flight in the super-dense atmosphere and ultra-low gravity of Saturn’s cryogenic moon, Titan, makes it the perfect celestial body on which to test the idea. Paul Marks spoke to the team behind NASA’s Dragonfly. https://aerospaceamerica.aiaa.org/features/...titan-explorer/ This post has been edited by Tom Tamlyn: Oct 27 2022, 01:35 PM |
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Oct 28 2022, 07:06 PM
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#197
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 3009 Joined: 30-October 04 Member No.: 105 |
Indeed interesting. And Ralph's book on the Ingenuity and Dragonfly planetary exploration helicopters is an excellent primer to understanding these, uh, "Helirovers".
--Bill -------------------- |
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Apr 3 2023, 07:24 AM
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#198
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 2922 Joined: 14-February 06 From: Very close to the Pyrénées Mountains (France) Member No.: 682 |
About recent Dragonfly PDR : https://scitechdaily.com/saturns-moon-titan...ical-milestone/
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Apr 4 2023, 09:38 AM
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#199
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 1089 Joined: 19-February 05 From: Close to Meudon Observatory in France Member No.: 172 |
About recent Dragonfly PDR : https://scitechdaily.com/saturns-moon-titan...ical-milestone/ Thanks a lot Climber for this useful link |
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Apr 4 2023, 02:51 PM
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#200
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Member Group: Members Posts: 251 Joined: 14-January 22 Member No.: 9140 |
Great work by the Dragonfly team.
The article refers to the rotorcraft approach as "game-changing." Of course, there is basically one other world where long distance travel by rotorcraft would be new, so I hope we see that particular game be changed sometime this century with a Venus rotorcraft. The next Titan northern solstice after Dragonfly's will be about 45 years from now, so I think waiting for such a mission to the northern seas, anyway, will fall upon posterity. |
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Nov 29 2023, 08:38 PM
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#201
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 2922 Joined: 14-February 06 From: Very close to the Pyrénées Mountains (France) Member No.: 682 |
Good news for la libellule !
https://www.jhuapl.edu/news/news-releases/2...ion-development -------------------- |
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Nov 30 2023, 05:39 AM
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#202
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Member Group: Members Posts: 715 Joined: 22-April 05 Member No.: 351 |
The next Titan northern solstice after Dragonfly's will be about 45 years from now, so I think waiting for such a mission to the northern seas, anyway, will fall upon posterity. Solstice, with it's tilt toward the sun and Earth, is only necessary if the probe is doing direct to Earth communications (and if you want to do some imaging). There have been proposals for lake landers that are short-lived and relay their data back through their carrier craft. They can land and carry out their measurements in darkness. -------------------- |
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Dec 1 2023, 03:07 AM
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#203
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Member Group: Members Posts: 613 Joined: 23-February 07 From: Occasionally in Columbia, MD Member No.: 1764 |
The article refers to the rotorcraft approach as "game-changing." Of course, there is basically one other world where long distance travel by rotorcraft would be new, so I hope we see that particular game be changed sometime this century with a Venus rotorcraft. The next Titan northern solstice after Dragonfly's will be about 45 years from now, so I think waiting for such a mission to the northern seas, anyway, will fall upon posterity. Fixed-wing (or lighter-than-air) probably makes more sense for Venus. Rotorcraft only come into their own when accessing a planetary surface, which is challenging at Venus owing to the temperatures.... And Titan northern summer solstice is in 2046, which is only 23 years from now, not 45 years.. (recall Titan's year is only 29.5 Earth years long) But I agree that is a dismayingly distant epoch... |
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Apr 17 2024, 02:28 PM
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#204
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Member Group: Members Posts: 613 Joined: 23-February 07 From: Occasionally in Columbia, MD Member No.: 1764 |
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Apr 17 2024, 06:51 PM
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#205
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Member Group: Members Posts: 706 Joined: 3-December 04 From: Boulder, Colorado, USA Member No.: 117 |
Congratulations to the Dragonfly team (including Ralph, of course)!
John |
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Jul 5 2024, 09:06 PM
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#206
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Member Group: Members Posts: 715 Joined: 22-April 05 Member No.: 351 |
Looking through the June OPAG presentation on the Dragonfly mission. The slide showing the current design suggests that the high-gain antenna design has evolved. In original designs, it could tilt to face the horizon and carried cameras for panoramic imaging. The new design appears to limit the HGA to pointing skyward and has lost the cameras.
Anyone know if Dragonfly will have one or more cameras that will be able to look out across landing sites when the craft is on the ground? Or will all imaging be from aerial perspectives looking down? You can find the set of slides here. -------------------- |
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Jul 5 2024, 09:19 PM
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#207
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 2542 Joined: 13-September 05 Member No.: 497 |
Anyone know if Dragonfly will have one or more cameras that will be able to look out across landing sites when the craft is on the ground? Since we're building all the cameras on Dragonfly, then yes, I do know the answer. But can I say? Probably not. You can sort of guess by looking for things that look like cameras in those slides. And there's a slide that has labels "forward science cameras" and "side science cameras" and "downward science cameras" -- maybe that answers the question. -------------------- Disclaimer: This post is based on public information only. Any opinions are my own.
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Jul 5 2024, 09:25 PM
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#208
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 2106 Joined: 13-February 10 From: Ontario Member No.: 5221 |
Considering that the diagrams in that link (slide 12) have labels saying 'Camera' with bright red lines pointing towards them, I'm afraid your secret is out!
It looks like 3 downward, two side, and two forward facing science cameras, plus one line for what appear to be 2 navigation cameras. |
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Jul 5 2024, 11:14 PM
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#209
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Member Group: Members Posts: 715 Joined: 22-April 05 Member No.: 351 |
You can sort of guess by looking for things that look like cameras in those slides. And there's a slide that has labels "forward science cameras" and "side science cameras" and "downward science cameras" -- maybe that answers the question. Unfortunately the slides with the cameras labeled wasn't posted. -------------------- |
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Jul 6 2024, 01:36 AM
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#210
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 2106 Joined: 13-February 10 From: Ontario Member No.: 5221 |
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