Topic: Dragonfly: Bringing Vertical Flight to Saturn’s Moon Titan, an Organic Ocean World
Date: Wednesday, March 19, 2025
Schedule:
Social Hour: 5:30 pm
Dinner: 6:15 pm
Speaker: 7:00pm
Location: Blackhawk Country Club
385 Oronoque Ln, Stratford, CT 06614
Cost: Member $35 ($40 No RSVP) / Non-Member $40 ($45 No RSVP)
Price includes dinner.
The John Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (JHUAPL) is leading a NASA program to explore Titan. Sikorsky, Lockheed Martin Space and Penn State are providing JHUAPL with Aeromechanics, Aerodynamics, Design and Ground Test support for the Dragonfly Rotorcraft Lander. The Dragonfly Lander is an 8-rotor, autonomous vehicle that weighs over 2,100 lbs on Earth but only 300 lbs on Titan. It is electrically powered and can navigate autonomously over the dunes of Titan using Lidar and Navigation Cameras. The vehicle carries a suite of scientific equipment, including a drill and mass spectrometer, to explore the prebiotic chemistry of Titan.