What will the Dragonfly mission do when it reaches Saturn's moon Titan?

The answer

NASA's Dragonfly mission will send a car-sized, nuclear-powered rotorcraft to Saturn's moon Titan, expected to launch in 2028 and arrive in 2034. Titan is the only moon with a dense atmosphere (1.5 times Earth's surface pressure) and stable surface liquids - lakes and seas of liquid methane and ethane. Dragonfly will exploit Titan's thick nitrogen atmosphere and low gravity (1/7 of Earth's) to fly between research sites, covering hundreds of kilometers over its 2.7-year primary mission. Powered by a Multi-Mission Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator, it will analyze surface composition using a mass spectrometer and gamma-ray spectrometer, searching for prebiotic chemistry. Titan's atmosphere contains complex organic molecules, and scientists believe its surface chemistry may mimic conditions on early Earth, potentially revealing how life's building blocks form.