����ֱ��

APL and NASA engineers are wrapping up a monthlong campaign to confirm the performance of Dragonfly’s rotors in Titan-like conditions at the NASA Langley Research Center’s Transonic Dynamics Tunnel in Virginia.

Bathing the sensor-laden model in a flow of heavy gas that simulates Titan’s thick atmosphere, the testing team has been gathering data on the rotor system’s aeromechanical performance — looking at factors like stress loads on the rotor arms, and effects of vibration on the rotor blades and lander body — information that will eventually feed into Dragonfly’s flight plans and navigation software.

Scientists and engineers at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, have completed a critical part of the Dragonfly Mass Spectrometer (DraMS), which will analyze chemical components and processes on Titan, including potentially biologically relevant compounds. The Ion Trap Mass Spectrometer, effectively the “heart” of the DraMS package, has cleared its acceptance review and is being prepared for space-environment tests and integration with other DraMS components.

APL engineers have completed structural and thermal testing of the foam insulation for the Dragonfly lander, verifying that the insulation will maintain its shape and protect the lander on Titan, where ambient temperatures get to approximately -300 F (or about -185 C). The lander body will be covered in a 3-inch-thick (7.6-centimeter-thick) layer of Solimide-based foam, which is designed to cover science instruments and other exterior elements. The team has tested the insulation in the large Titan-environment chamber at APL, as well as in the wind tunnel at NASA Langley.

Engineers at APL have completed the flight radios that will serve as the communications receiver and transmitter for Dragonfly’s journey to and operations on Titan. The APL-developed Frontier radios are versatile telecommunications devices proven on missions from the Sun to Pluto and beyond. As a software-defined radio — where software is used to customize the radio for specific mission requirements — the Frontier is smaller and needs less power than other deep-space radios, and can send and receive signals in a wide range of frequencies.

Engineers at Lockheed Martin in Denver have passed the first set of major milestones for the flight aeroshell, taking a big step toward making sure the casing that will protect Dragonfly upon its arrival at Titan can withstand the extreme thermal and structural loads of a ballistic atmospheric entry. This includes fabrication, cure and thermal-cycle testing of the aeroshell heatshield and backshell structures, with a static test campaign and thermal protection system installation up next.

Dragonfly will formally begin its integration and test phase in January 2026. The mission is scheduled to launch in July 2028 on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy launch vehicle from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.