Air and Space: Dragonfly Is the First Airplane Built for the Outer Solar System

By Tim Wright

    The Dragonfly is the latest innovation for extraterrestrial flight. While it will not be the first to fly on another planet (that honor going to the Ingenuity helicopter scheduled to fly on Mars next year), it will be the first with advanced instruments and the first to go to the outer solar system. It will be equipped with various systems to help it land on one of Saturn's moons, Titan, and look for life there.

    Titan is covered in a haze of prebiotic material that was uncovered a decade ago with the Cassini mission. Scientists believe that the moon may have water, along with the other requirements for biological life here on Earth.

    The fact that Titan has a thick atmosphere made the design easier. This is because the rover needs to generate less lift to get off the ground, and therefore requires less energy. The recent innovations with multi-rotor drones also helped because controlling a drone is easier. Also, a drone works by generating more or less lift with different amounts of rotor speed. Because of this, a drone can continue to work even if a rotor malfunctions. For power, the Dragonfly will use the plutonium that is commonly used for deep space missions along with a massive battery just in case. The Dragonfly mission is set to depart in 2026 and arrive on Titan by 2034.