Put unmanned aircraft on Saturn's moon

NASA said it is currently considering the possibility of sending a four-man unmanned helicopter (quadcopter) to explore Saturn's Titan moon. Accordingly, the quadcopter will be carried to space by the spacecraft, then released with a giant balloon. Quadcopter has the advantage of being able to move quickly and easily remove obstacles on Titan's surface and conduct research on it.

>>>People can fly like birds on Saturn moon

Larry Matthies, a senior scientific researcher working at NASA's propulsion laboratory, submitted a draft to call for investment in March. NASA also agreed to spend $ 100,000 to serve the initial research, focusing on spacecraft. Research programs related to this project are expected to start in July, and end in April 2015.

The purpose of the mission to send unmanned aircraft to Titan was to study the diversity of organic organizations until the life on this planet's largest moon. Larry Matthies said: 'We think that on Titan there are chemical reactions and these are prebiotic substances . Research results will help us better understand how life has formed on Earth. "

After arriving in Titan, the quadcopter will be released from the sphere and take samples as well as take photos; then send them to a nearby mother ship for analysis. Previous missions for discovering Titan have all failed. There was a ship designed to fly around on Titan, like a balloon, and it could not land on the surface. Whereas if a device works right on Titan's surface, it will have problems moving, it cannot go quickly. And by combining these two ideas together, NASA has found a solution.

The quadcopter will have a light weight of less than 10kg and can be energized via a radioactive isotope thermoelectric machine placed on the cabin of the mother ship. This type of generator can generate electricity by converting radioactive material into heat.

The idea of ​​this design is only at the initial stage and the time frame for the mission has not yet been announced. But it may take a long time until a quadcopter can reach Titan. According to Larry Matthies, it will take at least 10 years for this to happen.