Dragonfly: A Rotorcraft Lander to Explore Saturn's Moon Titan

Announcing a Public Lecture of the Titan Surface Meeting
 
Dragonfly: A Rotorcraft Lander to Explore Saturn's Moon Titan
 
Dr. Elizabeth P. Turtle
Dragonfly Principal Investigator
Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory
 
Thursday, May 10, 7:30 pm
Schwartz Auditorium, Rockefeller Hall
 
Dragonfly is a mission concept under consideration for NASA's New Frontiers Program that would send a rotorcraft lander to explore Titan, Saturn’s large, exotic moon. Titan has abundant carbon-rich material on its surface, where there has also been liquid water in the past. This combination makes it an ideal destination to study chemical processes that precede the development of life and to document the habitability of an extraterrestrial environment. Dragonfly would take advantage of Titan's dense, calm atmosphere and low gravity to fly to dozens of sites, tens to hundreds of kilometers apart, at which it would sample surface materials to determine their composition. This revolutionary mission concept offers the capability to explore diverse locations to characterize the habitability of Titan’s environment, investigate the progression of prebiotic organic chemistry, and even search for chemical hints of life.
 
This event is free of charge. If you need accommodations to participate in this event, please contact spif@astro.cornell.edu.