Helicopter-Like Drone Spacecraft to Search For Life on Saturn Moon Titan - NASA

WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 28th June, 2019) NASA said in a press release that it plans to use the dense atmosphere surrounding Saturn's moon Titan to support a helicopter-like vehicle that will explore the surface and investigate prebiotic chemical reactions common to Earth.

"The rotorcraft will fly to dozens of promising locations on Titan looking for prebiotic chemical processes common on both Titan and Earth," NASA said in a press release. "Dragonfly marks the first time NASA will fly a multi-rotor vehicle for science on another planet."

Instruments will also search for chemical evidence of past life and possibly life that could still exist on the icy world, the release said.

An illustration depicts a spacecraft on a ski-like base with eight side-mounted rotors.

"It will take advantage of Titan's dense atmosphere - four times denser than Earth's - to become the first vehicle ever to fly its entire science payload to new places for repeatable and targeted access to surface materials," the release said.

Dragonfly will launch in 2026 and arrive in 2034, according to the release.

Titan is considered an analog to the very early Earth, and can provide clues to how life may have arisen on our planet, the release said.

During its 2.7-year baseline mission, Dragonfly will explore diverse environments from organic dunes to the floor of an impact crater where liquid water and complex organic materials once existed, the release added.