NASA's New Mission to Saturn's Largest Moon to Search for Life on Titan %

Titan, the gigantic moon of Saturn which had inspired a number of fictional stories and movies, is now going to be studied in reality as NASA announced the launch of their new mission “Dragonfly” on 27th of June. Potentially habitable with atmosphere that matches that of Earth’s along with liquid water found beneath its surface, what else do we need to think of a mission to Titan?

Mission Dragonfly will be launched in 2026 under principal investigator from John Hopkins University’s applied physics laboratory. The mission primarily focuses on sending a drone-styled quadcopter 1.4 million kilometers from Earth to collect samples of organic compounds from it’s diverse topography once it lands on Shangri La dunes. The rotocopter is equipped with scientific instruments such as spectrometers, seismometers and even drills for immediate analysis.

One of the aims of the mission is to look for life, as we know it or as we don’t know it, on Titan. Just as the water cycle is sustaining life on Earth, the methane cycle on Titan might be doing the same. “We have all these ingredients necessary for life as we know it, and they’re just sitting there doing chemistry experiments on the surface of Titan. That’s why we want to send a lander there,” said Dr. Turtle.

This Mission is going to open new avenues for space exploration revealing the secrets and mysteries of space. The discoveries made will further influence other space missions as well.