{"id":36106,"date":"2026-08-31T18:30:00","date_gmt":"2026-08-31T22:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ecoticias.com\/en\/?p=36106"},"modified":"2026-08-31T18:30:00","modified_gmt":"2026-08-31T22:30:00","slug":"nasas-dragonfly-is-being-built-to-fly-on-titan-where-thick-air-and-weak-gravity-could-make-a-truck-sized-robot-easier-to-lift","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ecoticias.com\/en\/nasas-dragonfly-is-being-built-to-fly-on-titan-where-thick-air-and-weak-gravity-could-make-a-truck-sized-robot-easier-to-lift\/36106\/","title":{"rendered":"NASA\u2019s Dragonfly is being built to fly on Titan, where thick air and weak gravity could make a truck-sized robot easier to lift"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

What was once just a project on computer screens has now become reality. NASA\u2019s engineers at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory<\/a> are now working on the Dragonfly, a probe that is going to set sail to Titan, Saturn\u2019s largest moon. The Dragonfly\u2019s almost 13-foot fuselage is being filled up with wires, electronic devices, engineering instruments and thermal systems, all things that are going to be needed to turn that truck-sized octocopter<\/a> into a real working spacecraft that has a long journey ahead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When we talk about space-related technology we always talk about things that we don\u2019t see in our day-to-day routines. The Dragonfly is a very unusual machine, perfectly fit to journey towards a very unusual destination. Titan\u2019s surface atmosphere<\/a> is about 4.5 times denser than ours, while its gravity is much weaker, with roughly one-seventh of the strength of the one we have here on Earth! The fact that the gravity is so much weaker allows an ideal hover-power requirement about 40 times lower<\/a> than what we would need here on our planet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dragonfly is taking shape<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The integration team, which is the team that connects the separate parts of the Dragonfly, had good news on June 29 with the ahead of schedule arrival of the fuselage. Because of that on July 1 they were able to start the mechanical, the thermal and the electrical integration. Now the engineers are adding all the remaining spare parts: bulkheads, wiring harnesses, cables, connectors, avionics, and all the scientific instruments needed as more testings are being done and finished.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"NASA's
Suspended by four bungee cords just above the floor, Dragonfly undergoes vibration testing at Johns Hopkins APL to reveal how rotor vibrations could resonate through the spacecraft.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In one of the tests that are being done before the handoff, for example, the team suspended the frame on bungee cords to calculate the impact of the vibrations that would travel through the rotor structure. On another one the integration engineers also pressurized the whole structure in order to find and prevent leaks that could allow Titan<\/a>\u2019s dense, frigid atmosphere to reach sensitive equipment previously knowing that the Dragonfly will have to operate in temperatures of near minus 290 degrees Fahrenheit. The communication department of NASA said the test results were \u201cextremely good\u201d, painting a promising picture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Titan makes rotor flight easier<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Here such a heavy octopter would need to push enough air downward to hold up its whole weight, which logically makes sense. But Titan\u2019s atmosphere isn\u2019t like ours. There the air is denser, which means that the octocopter rotors have more mass to work with. Add to that the fact that it has a weaker gravity and the force needed to keep the machine to stay aloft is reduced exponentially. There the Dragonfly is going to be helped twice as much, benefiting from the advantages of both sides of the equation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Still, the previously mentioned 40 times estimate is just an ideal theoretical scenario. NASA has built a special place to test the rotor system in wind tunnels that can mimic key parts of Titan\u2019s unusual atmosphere<\/a>, but the Dragonfly\u2019s eight rotors and its four coaxial pairs, will have to face real flight interferences, blade drags, motor losses, turns, climbs, winds and control corrections while on Titan\u2019s surface.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nuclear power does not spin the rotors<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Dragonfly is powered by a monstrous engine called Multi-Mission Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator<\/a>, that will turn heat from a naturally decaying plutonium-238 and transform it into a steady supply of electricity. It may sound like a fission reactor but it isn\u2019t, and it will not mechanically drive the blades, so even though it can technically be called nuclear-powered that would be a bit misleading.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instead, the generator will work differently by recharging the batteries that provide short bursts: high-powered short bursts needed for flight and some specific demanding scientific work. Make an exercise, think of the generator not as an nuclear engine, but a patient charger that will keep the electronics and instruments warm while the Dragonfly travels through Titan\u2019s bitter cold and hazy weak sunlight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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