NASA is going to launch a quadrocopter in the form of a dragonfly to the largest satellite of Saturn - Titan.
Engineers from the Applied Physics Laboratory of Johns Hopkins University are engaged in the design of an interplanetary mission, within which a dragon quadopteropter will be delivered to Titan for a detailed study of the atmosphere and surface landscapes of this satellite.
This mission can be the fourth mission of the New Horizons program. At the moment, the project has not yet been approved and is one of 12 potential alternatives to interplanetary research.
Initially, specialists from the Johns Hopkins University offered a mission to Enceladus and Titan, but the largest satellite of Saturn is a more suitable target for studying with a quadrocopter, since it has low gravity and a dense but calm atmosphere.
The thick atmosphere on Titan makes solar energy an inefficient source of energy for large space vehicles. And such a device as the Dragonfly quadrupter will be equipped with a radioisotope thermoelectric generator MMRTG, similar to that installed on the board of the rovers Curiosity. This will allow the quadrocopter to perform daytime research flights, and then recharge overnight.
