{"id":9353,"date":"2023-10-23T18:02:34","date_gmt":"2023-10-23T22:02:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/zobi.alcowep.com\/bourtagshdrevxnls658739\/nasas-dragonfly-tunnel-visions\/"},"modified":"2023-10-23T18:02:34","modified_gmt":"2023-10-23T22:02:34","slug":"nasas-dragonfly-tunnel-visions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zobi.alcowep.com\/bourtagshdrevxnls658739\/nasas-dragonfly-tunnel-visions\/","title":{"rendered":"NASA\u2019s Dragonfly Tunnel Visions"},"content":{"rendered":"

NASA\u2019s Dragonfly Tunnel Visions<\/h2>\n

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5 min read<\/p>\n

NASA\u2019s Dragonfly Tunnel Visions<\/h1>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Dragonfly Team Utilizes Unique NASA Facilities to Shape Its Innovative Titan-bound Rotorcraft\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

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\"Dragonfly<\/figure>
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Dragonfly team members review the half-scale lander model after it underwent wind tunnel testing at NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. Pictured are (from left) Art Azarbarzin, Juan Cruz, Wayne Dellinger, Zibi Turtle, Chuck Hebert, Ken Hibbard, Bernadine Juliano and Bruce Owens.<\/div>\n
Johns Hopkins APL\/Ed Whitman<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

With its dense atmosphere and low gravity, Saturn\u2019s moon Titan is a great place to fly.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But well before NASA\u2019s Dragonfly rotorcraft lander soars through Titan\u2019s skies, researchers on Earth \u2013 led by the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland \u2013 are making sure their designs and models for the nuclear-powered, car-sized drone will work in a truly unique environment.<\/p>\n

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\"Artist\u2019s<\/figure>
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Artist\u2019s impression of the Dragonfly rotorcraft lander on the surface of Titan, Saturn\u2019s largest moon and a major target in NASA\u2019s quest to assess habitability and search for potential signs of life beyond Earth on worlds across the solar system.<\/div>\n
NASA\/Johns Hopkins APL\/Steve Gribben<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Dragonfly, NASA\u2019s only mission to the surface of another ocean world, is designed to investigate the complex chemistry that is the precursor to life. The vehicle, which APL will build and operate, will be equipped with cameras, sensors and samplers to examine swaths of Titan known to contain organic materials that may, at some point in Titan\u2019s complex history, have come in contact with liquid water beneath the organic-rich, icy surface.\u00a0<\/p>\n

To transport those science instruments across the moon, Dragonfly\u2019s four pairs of coaxial rotors (meaning one rotor is stacked above the other) will need to slice through Titan\u2019s dense, nitrogen-rich atmosphere. Four times in the past three years, the mission team has headed to Virginia to test its flight systems in one-of-a-kind facilities at NASA\u2019s Langley Research Center in\u00a0Hampton, Virginia.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mission engineers have conducted two test campaigns in NASA Langley\u2019s 14-by-22-foot Subsonic Tunnel, and two in the 16-foot Transonic Dynamics Tunnel (TDT).\u00a0\u00a0They use the Subsonic Tunnel to validate computational fluid dynamics models\u00a0and data gathered from integrated test platforms \u2013 terrestrial drones outfitted with Dragonfly-designed flight electronics. They use the variable-density heavy gas capabilities of the TDT to validate its models under simulated Titan atmospheric conditions \u2014 one aerodynamic stability test of the aeroshell that is used to deliver the Lander to a release point above Titan\u2019s surface and one to model the Lander\u2019s rotors aerodynamics.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\u201cAll of these tests feed into our Dragonfly Titan simulations and performance predictions,\u201d said Ken Hibbard, Dragonfly mission systems engineer at APL.\u00a0<\/p>\n

On its latest trip to NASA Langley, in June, the team set up a half-scale Dragonfly lander model, complete with eight rotors, in the 14-by-22 Subsonic Tunnel. Test lead Bernadine Juliano of APL said the campaign focused on two flight configurations: Dragonfly\u2019s descent and transition to powered flight upon arrival at Titan, and forward flight over Titan\u2019s surface.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe tested conditions across the expected flight envelope at a variety of wind speeds, rotor speeds, and flight angles to assess the aerodynamic performance of the vehicle,\u201d she said. \u201cWe completed more than 700 total runs, encompassing over 4,000 individual data points. All test objectives were successfully accomplished and the data will help increase confidence in our simulation models on Earth before extrapolating to Titan conditions.\u201d<\/p>\n

APL engineers are analyzing the 14-by-22 test data with mission flight team partners at the University of Central Florida, Penn State University, Lockheed Martin Sikorsky, NASA Langley and NASA Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley,\u00a0California. Rick Heisler, the Dragonfly wind tunnel test lead from APL who heads the TDT test campaigns, said each trip to NASA Langley has given the team a chance to hone its technical models and designs and, specifically in the TDT, gain a better idea of how Dragonfly\u2019s rotors will perform in Titan\u2019s exotic atmosphere.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe heavy gas environment in the TDT has a density three-and-a-half times higher than air while operating at sea level ambient pressure and temperature,\u201d Heisler said, \u201cThis allows the rotors to operate at near-Titan conditions and better replicate the lift and dynamic loading the actual lander will experience. The data we acquire are used to validate predictions of the lander aerodynamics, aero-structural performance and rotor fatigue life in the harsh cryogenic environment on Titan.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWith Dragonfly, we\u2019re turning science fiction into exploration fact,\u201d Hibbard said. \u201cThe mission is coming together piece by piece, and we\u2019re excited for every next step toward sending this revolutionary rotorcraft across the skies and surface of Titan.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Part of NASA\u2019s New Frontiers Program, Dragonfly is scheduled to launch no earlier than 2027 and arrive at Titan in the mid-2030s. Principal Investigator Elizabeth Turtle of APL leads a mission team that includes engineers, scientists and specialists from APL as well as NASA\u2019s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland; Lockheed Martin Space in Littleton, Colorado; NASA\u2019s Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley, California; NASA\u2019s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia; Penn State University in State College, Pennsylvania; University of Central Florida in Orlando, Florida; Lockheed Martin Sikorsky in Stratford, Connecticut; Malin Space Science Systems in San Diego; Honeybee Robotics in Pasadena, California; NASA\u2019s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California;\u00a0\u00a0CNES (Centre National d\u2019Etudes Spatiales)\u00a0in Paris; the German Aerospace Center (DLR) in Cologne, Germany; and JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) in Tokyo.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Learn more at\u00a0www.nasa.gov\/dragonfly<\/a><\/p>\n

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\nTricia Talbert <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dragonfly Team Utilizes Unique NASA Facilities to Shape Its Innovative Titan-bound Rotorcraft\u00a0 With its dense atmosphere and low gravity, Saturn\u2019s moon Titan is a great place to fly.\u00a0 But well before NASA\u2019s Dragonfly rotorcraft lander soars through Titan\u2019s skies, researchers on Earth \u2013 led by the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland [\u2026] Continue reading → <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

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