SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket will launch NASA's epic Dragonfly mission to Saturn's huge moon Titan in 2028

[Admin]

NASA has picked SpaceX to launch its Dragonfly astrobiology mission to the intriguing Saturn moon Titan. A Falcon Heavy will loft Dragonfly in July 2028.

SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket will launch NASA's epic Dragonfly mission to Saturn's huge moon Titan in 2028 : Read more

 

[Rob77]

Tried to find more information about the Dragonfly project but seems to be pretty limited at the moment.
I would have thought a similar craft would be sent to Mars first for a preliminary test (of sorts).

However I admire their ambition to trial this all the way out at Titan.

 

[Gary Brown]

I think that atmospeheric pressure is the issue here. Mars as we know from its helicopter has very, very low pressure compared to Earth. Titan on the other hand has a somewhat high pressure, about one and a half times Earth. So Mars would be no place at all to test this new 'copter......

 

[skynr13]

I think that atmospeheric pressure is the issue here. Mars as we know from its helicopter has very, very low pressure compared to Earth. Titan on the other hand has a somewhat high pressure, about one and a half times Earth. So Mars would be no place at all to test this new 'copter......

I wouldn't say, Mars is no place to test this copter. I don't know the specifications on the Dragonfly mission copter, but the only difference in the Mars helicopter from one on Earth is Earth copters rotate at around 500 rpm. where the Mars helicopter rotates around 1000 rpm. Also, the blade is designed differently for higher speed and lift.