In sending a car-sized rotorcraft to explore Saturn\u2019s moon Titan, NASA\u2019s Dragonfly mission will undertake an unprecedented voyage of scientific discovery. And the work to ensure that this first-of-its-kind project can fulfill its ambitious exploration vision is underway in some of the nation\u2019s most advanced space simulation and testing laboratories.<\/p>\n
Set for launch in in 2028, the Dragonfly<\/a> rotorcraft is being designed and built at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland, with contributions from organizations around the world. On arrival in 2034, Dragonfly will exploit Titan\u2019s<\/a> dense atmosphere and low gravity to fly to dozens of locations, exploring varied environments from organic equatorial dunes to an impact crater where liquid water and complex organic materials essential to life (at least as we know it) may have existed together.<\/p>\n Aerodynamic testing<\/p>\n When full rotorcraft integration and testing begins in February, the team will tap into a trove of data gathered through critical technical trials conducted over the past three years, including, most recently, two campaigns at the Transonic Dynamics Tunnel (TDT)<\/a> facility at NASA\u2019s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia.<\/p>\n The TDT is a versatile 16-foot-high, 16-foot-wide, 20-foot-long testing hub that has hosted studies for NASA, the Department of War, the aircraft industry and an array of universities.<\/p>\n Over five weeks, from August into September, the team evaluated the performance of Dragonfly\u2019s rotor system \u2013 which provides the lift for the lander to fly and enables it to maneuver \u2013 in Titan-like conditions, looking at aeromechanical performance factors such as stress on the rotor arms, and effects of vibration on the rotor blades and lander body. In late December, the team also wrapped up a set of aerodynamics tests on smaller-scale Dragonfly rotor models in the TDT.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen Dragonfly enters the atmosphere at Titan and parachutes deploy after the heat shield does its job, the rotors are going to have to work perfectly the first time,\u201d said Dave Piatak, branch chief for aeroelasticity at NASA Langley. \u201cThere\u2019s no room for error, so any concerns with vehicle structural dynamics or aerodynamics need to be known now and tested on the ground. With the Transonic Dynamics Tunnel here at Langley, NASA offers just the right capability for the Dragonfly team to gather this critical data.\u201d<\/p>\n Critical parts<\/p>\n In his three years as an experimental machinist at APL, Cory Pennington has crafted parts for projects dispatched around the globe. But fashioning rotors for a drone to explore another world in our solar system? That was new \u2013 and a little daunting.<\/p>\n \u201cThe rotors are some of the most important parts on Dragonfly,\u201d Pennington said. \u201cWithout the rotors, it doesn\u2019t fly \u2013 and it doesn\u2019t meet its mission objectives at Titan.\u201d<\/p>\n Pennington and team cut Dragonfly\u2019s first rotors on Nov. 1, 2024. They refined the process as they went: starting with waterjet paring of 1,000-pound aluminum blocks, followed by rough machining, cover fitting, vent-hole drilling and hole-threading. After an inspection, the parts were cleaned, sent out for welding and returned for final finishing.<\/p>\n \u201cWe didn\u2019t have time or materials to make test parts or extras, so every cut had to be right the first time,\u201d Pennington said, adding that the team also had to find special tools and equipment to accommodate some material changes and design tweaks.<\/p>\n The team was able to deliver the parts a month early. Engineers set up and spin-tested the rotors at APL \u2013 attached to a full-scale model representing half of the Dragonfly lander \u2013 before transporting the entire package to the TDT at NASA Langley in late July.<\/p>\n \u201cOn Titan, we\u2019ll control the speeds of Dragonfly\u2019s different rotors to induce forward flight, climbs, descents and turns,\u201d said Felipe Ruiz, lead Dragonfly rotor engineer at APL.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a complicated geometry going to a flight environment that we are still learning about. So the wind tunnel tests are one of the most important venues for us to demonstrate the design.\u201d<\/p>\n And the rotors passed the tests.<\/p>\n \u201cNot only did the tests validate the design team\u2019s approach, we\u2019ll use all that data to create high-fidelity representations of loads, forces and dynamics that help us predict Dragonfly\u2019s performance on Titan with a high degree of confidence,\u201d said Rick Heisler, wind tunnel test lead from APL.<\/p>\n Next, the rotors will undergo fatigue and cryogenic trials under simulated Titan conditions, where the temperature is minus 290 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 178 degrees Celsius), before building the actual flight rotors.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re not just cutting metal \u2014 we\u2019re fabricating something that\u2019s going to another world,\u201d Pennington said. \u201cIt\u2019s incredible to know that what we build will fly on Titan.\u201d<\/p>\n Collaboration, innovation<\/p>\n Elizabeth \u201cZibi\u201d Turtle, Dragonfly principal investigator at APL, says the latest work in the TDT demonstrates the mission\u2019s innovation, ingenuity and collaboration across government and industry.<\/p>\n \u201cThe team worked well together, under time pressure, to develop solutions, assess design decisions, and execute fabrication and testing,\u201d she said. \u201cThere\u2019s still much to do between now and our launch in 2028, but everyone who worked on this should take tremendous pride in these accomplishments that make it possible for Dragonfly to fly on Titan.\u201d<\/p>\n Dragonfly has been a collaborative effort from the start. Kenneth Hibbard, mission systems engineer from APL, cites the vertical-lift expertise of Penn State University on the initial rotor design, aero-related modeling and analysis, and testing support in the TDT, as well as NASA Langley\u2019s 14-by-22-foot Subsonic Tunnel. Sikorsky Aircraft of Connecticut has also supported aeromechanics and aerodynamics testing and analysis, as well as flight hardware modeling and simulation.<\/p>\n The Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland, leads the Dragonfly mission for NASA in collaboration with several NASA centers, industry partners, academic institutions and international space agencies. Elizabeth \u201cZibi\u201d Turtle of APL is the principal investigator. Dragonfly is part of NASA\u2019s New Frontiers Program, managed by the Planetary Missions Program Office at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, for the agency\u2019s Science Mission Directorate in Washington.<\/p>\n For more information on NASA\u2019s Dragonfly mission, visit:<\/p>\n https:\/\/science.nasa.gov\/mission\/dragonfly\/<\/a><\/p>\n by Mike Buckley MEDIA CONTACTS:<\/p>\n Karen Fox \/ Molly Wasser Joe Atkinson
Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory<\/p>\n
Headquarters, Washington
240-285-5155 \/ 240-419-1732
karen.c.fox@nasa.gov<\/a> \/ molly.l.wasser@nasa.gov<\/a><\/p>\n
NASA\u2019s Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia
757-755-5375
joseph.s.atkinson@nasa.gov<\/a><\/p>\n