NASA successfully tested its nuclear-powered Dragonfly rotorcraft ahead of its launch to Saturn’s moon Titan in 2027. The objective of this mission is to study the surface of another ocean world and investigate the complex chemistry that is the precursor to life.
Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) engineers are building Dragonfly, which comes equipped with four pairs of coaxial rotors that will have to slice through Titan’s dense, nitrogen-rich atmosphere. Mission engineers also made use of NASA Langley’s 14′ x 22′ Subsonic Tunnel to validate computational fluid dynamics models and data gathered from integrated test platforms.
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The 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. This 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,” said Rick Heisler, the Dragonfly wind tunnel test lead from APL.
