![]() ![]() When it launches in 2027, Dragonfly will have to contend with a journey through interplanetary space nearly seven years long. "We want to know if the type of chemistry that could be important for early pre-biochemical systems on Earth is taking place on Titan," Trainer said in a NASA statement. Melissa Trainer is NASA's project lead on the DraMS instrument, and is one of the researchers hoping clues to the beginning of life on Earth can be found on the Saturnalian moon. Scientists plan to use DrACO and DraMS to probe Titan's extraterrestrial environment to determine its habitability and search for the type of chemical markers indicative of life, or pre-life. NASA Is Sending a Life-Hunting Drone to Saturn's Huge Moon Titan The Hazy History of Air on Saturn's Moon Titan Saturn's Hazy Moon Titan Holds Clues About Life's Origins What exactly makes up the surface of Titan may have enormous implications for astrobiology researchers, scientists and humanity as a whole. The spectrometer works to identify the chemical composition of a sample by breaking down its molecular makeup through a process of ionization (which involves vaporizing samples with a laser inside a tiny onboard oven) that allows DraMS to examine a specimen's individual compounds. DraMS works similarly to the Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) spectrometer built into the Mars Curiosity rover, and was designed by the same team at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. Dragonfly's attic houses another instrument, called the Dragonfly Mass Spectrometer (DraMS). These specimens will be stored and analyzed internally, inside part of the lander's main body known as the "attic". Dragonfly will use the Drill for Acquisition of Complex Organics (DrACO) instrument to dig out surface material less than a gram at a time. In addition, the drone will analyze samples extracted from Titan's surface. ![]()
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