Uploaded January 2024 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
Full story: https://engineering.purdue.edu/ME/News/2024/helping-dragonfly-survive-nasas-mission-to-titan
Saturn’s largest moon Titan is rich with organic substances, and may contain clues to the beginning of life in the universe. In 2028, NASA is sending a first-of-its-kind helicopter called Dragonfly to explore Titan’s unique surface. But before it begins flying, the craft has to successfully make it through Titan’s super-dense atmosphere. That’s where Purdue University combustion researchers Chris Goldenstein and Vishnu Radhakrishna come in. They are determining what kinds of shock waves a Titan atmospheric entry will generate, and how Dragonfly’s heat shield can withstand the incredible temperatures to survive and land on the surface.
Purdue Mechanical Engineering: https://purdue.edu/ME
All Dragonfly footage courtesy NASA/JHU-APL. Mars entry animations courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech
Full story: https://engineering.purdue.edu/ME/News/2024/helping-dragonfly-survive-nasas-mission-to-titan
Saturn’s largest moon Titan is rich with organic substances, and may contain clues to the beginning of life in the universe. In 2028, NASA is sending a first-of-its-kind helicopter called Dragonfly to explore Titan’s unique surface. But before it begins flying, the craft has to successfully make it through Titan’s super-dense atmosphere. That’s where Purdue University combustion researchers Chris Goldenstein and Vishnu Radhakrishna come in. They are determining what kinds of shock waves a Titan atmospheric entry will generate, and how Dragonfly’s heat shield can withstand the incredible temperatures to survive and land on the surface.
Purdue Mechanical Engineering: https://purdue.edu/ME
All Dragonfly footage courtesy NASA/JHU-APL. Mars entry animations courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech
