# NASA is planning to send a helicopter to Titan in the next decade and a half. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 2, 2019, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-is-planning-to-send-a-helicopter-to-titan-in-the-next-decade-and-a-half/836374 "2019-07-02T00:01:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2019, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-is-planning-to-send-a-helicopter-to-titan-in-the-next-decade-and-a-half/836374/1 "2019-07-02T00:01:06Z")
Courtesy of Phil Plait’s Bad Astronomy blog: [NASA will be sending a quadcopter called Dragonfly to Titan](https://www.syfy.com/syfywire/nasa-will-be-sending-a-quadcopter-called-dragonfly-to-titan) The _Dragonfly_ mission is scheduled to launch around 2026, with a projected arrival date of 2034. The probe will be a dual-quadcopter that will use a plutonium-powered radioisotope thermoelectric generator (there’s definitely no way to operate a solar-powered probe on a moon that’s nine hundred million miles from the Sun _and_ has a dense hazy atmosphere) to power its rotors, allowing it to make multi-kilometer “hops” from one point on the Titanian surface to another, taking pictures and sampling the air and surface to determine their chemical compositions and so on. Well, this is very cool (and I say that not just because the temperature on Titan is -290° below zero Fahrenheit). A denser atmosphere than Earth’s! Dunes where the “sand” is water ice, frozen so hard it’s a mineral! Rain and rivers and [_seas_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kraken_Mare) of liquid methane and ethane! _Yeah!!!_ I just hope it actually gets launched in time to get there before I drop dead of something. ---
**Author:** ![jaycat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat/32/3015_2.png) [@jaycat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jaycat)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2019, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-is-planning-to-send-a-helicopter-to-titan-in-the-next-decade-and-a-half/836374/2 "2019-07-02T03:04:39Z")
No mention (that I saw) of how much $$ this gigantic jerkoff is going to cost us taxpayers. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2019, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-is-planning-to-send-a-helicopter-to-titan-in-the-next-decade-and-a-half/836374/3 "2019-07-02T03:10:16Z")
> [@jaycat](#): > > No mention (that I saw) of how much $$ this gigantic jerkoff is going to cost us taxpayers. Nice sense of wonder you’ve got there. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2019, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-is-planning-to-send-a-helicopter-to-titan-in-the-next-decade-and-a-half/836374/4 "2019-07-02T03:28:59Z")
> [@jaycat](#): > > No mention (that I saw) of how much $$ this gigantic jerkoff is going to cost us taxpayers. Are you serious? Titan is amazing! I still have the Huygens probe images on my office wall — the methane sea coast looking like New Jersey (Sandy Hook, Barnegat Bay…). And we’re not going to get there again for another 15 years? I can’t wait! ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2019, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-is-planning-to-send-a-helicopter-to-titan-in-the-next-decade-and-a-half/836374/5 "2019-07-02T03:35:48Z")
The current estimated total costs for the _Dragonfly_ mission are equal to: One-twenty-seventh as much as what Americans spend each year on diamonds. A bit less than one percent of what Americans spend annually on fast food, and a bit more than one percent of what Americans spend annually on gambling. About six-tenths of a percent of the cost of the food that Americans throw away each year. Approximately 0.07% as much as the total costs of the F-35 program. (Any or all of the numbers I’m basing this on may be a few years out of date. Or may not have been all that accurate in the first place. So sue me!) ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2019, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-is-planning-to-send-a-helicopter-to-titan-in-the-next-decade-and-a-half/836374/6 "2019-07-02T04:05:34Z")
> [@MEBuckner](#): > > The current estimated total costs for the _Dragonfly_ mission are equal to: > > One-twenty-seventh as much as what Americans spend each year on diamonds. > A bit less than one percent of what Americans spend annually on fast food, and a bit more than one percent of what Americans spend annually on gambling. > About six-tenths of a percent of the cost of the food that Americans throw away each year. > Approximately 0.07% as much as the total costs of the F-35 program. > > (Any or all of the numbers I’m basing this on may be a few years out of date. Or may not have been all that accurate in the first place. So sue me!) Put it in terms of trump walls, please. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2019, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-is-planning-to-send-a-helicopter-to-titan-in-the-next-decade-and-a-half/836374/7 "2019-07-02T04:16:16Z")
For perhaps the first time, I realize this news story is sort of beyond my projected lifespan. I might make it, but I can not count on it. All you youngsters, enjoy your space whirligig! ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2019, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-is-planning-to-send-a-helicopter-to-titan-in-the-next-decade-and-a-half/836374/8 "2019-07-02T10:46:20Z")
> [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](#): > > For perhaps the first time, I realize this news story is sort of beyond my projected lifespan. I might make it, but I can not count on it. > > All you youngsters, enjoy your space whirligig! Lucky punks! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2019, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-is-planning-to-send-a-helicopter-to-titan-in-the-next-decade-and-a-half/836374/9 "2019-07-02T12:07:31Z")
> [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](#): > > For perhaps the first time, I realize this news story is sort of beyond my projected lifespan. I might make it, but I can not count on it. > > All you youngsters, enjoy your space whirligig! Only the first time? You’re the youngster, kid. There are times when I feel the local weather forecast is beyond my projected lifespan. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2024, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-is-planning-to-send-a-helicopter-to-titan-in-the-next-decade-and-a-half/836374/10 "2024-04-23T11:22:51Z")
Bump: Project now has the official go-ahead. > **[NASA officially greenlights $3.35 billion mission to Saturn’s moon Titan](https://arstechnica.com/space/2024/04/nasa-officially-greenlights-3-35-billion-mission-to-saturns-moon-titan/)** > > Dragonfly will push the boundaries of engineering and science as it explores Titan. Tentatively projected launch date of July 2028. Very, very exciting. (I wonder if the success of Ingenuity on Mars gave this a bit of a leg up.) ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2024, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-is-planning-to-send-a-helicopter-to-titan-in-the-next-decade-and-a-half/836374/11 "2024-04-23T11:41:20Z")
> [@MEBuckner](#): > > Well, this is very cool (and I say that not just because the temperature on Titan is -290° below zero Fahrenheit). A denser atmosphere than Earth’s! Dunes where the “sand” is water ice, frozen so hard it’s a mineral! Rain and rivers and [_seas_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kraken_Mare) of liquid methane and ethane! _Yeah!!!_ I’d rather they send it to Tahiti or the Riviera and send me back pictures of that. LOL