Keith’s note: two items from NASA about the Dragonfly mission just dropped – almost simultaneously: “Dragonfly Astrobiology Mission Progresses Through Key Development And Test Activities“, which spins things in a positive light and highlights progress made thus far, and “NASA’s Management Of The Dragonfly Project“ from the NASA Office of Inspector General which highlights schedule delays and cost overruns for Dragonfly. NASA PAO usually has a heads up from OIG that a report is coming out. Or maybe it is just a coincidence. That said, NASA is simply ignoring the true progress of this mission and why it has been delayed. Oh yes and NASA has immense budget pressures right now.

• NASA OIG says: “In January 2022, Dragonfly was approved to continue development with an updated estimated life-cycle cost range of $2.1 to $2.5 billion and expected launch date of June 2027. Then in March 2023, NASA directed project officials to initiate a replan due to funding constraints. The replan, which was completed in July 2023, included new cost, staffing, and schedule plans. As a result, the project estimated a new launch readiness date of July 2028 with an expected arrival at Titan in 2034. By the time NASA formally established the project’s cost and schedule baseline in April 2024, life-cycle costs had grown to $3.35 billion and the launch readiness date was delayed by over 2 years.”
• NASA PAO says “NASA’s Dragonfly mission has cleared several key design, development and testing milestones and remains on track toward launch in July 2028.” (no mention of any cost overruns. delays etc.)

Cassini Completes Final and Fateful Titan Flyby “NASA’s Cassini spacecraft has had its last close brush with Saturn’s hazy moon Titan and is now beginning its final set of 22 orbits around the ringed planet.” “The spacecraft made its 127th and final close approach to Titan on April 21 at 11:08 p.m. PDT (2:08 a.m. EDT on April 22), passing at an altitude of about 608 miles (979 kilometers) above […]

Charles D. Walker: Don’t relinquish all space exploration to private firms, Charles Walker, Arizona Daily Star “The idea is attractive, even if commercial plans for a Mars mission are hypothetical at best. But as much as I support the private space industry, experience and common sense tell me that a commercial Mars human landing won’t ever get off the ground not unless NASA goes there first. Businesses are slaves to […]

Ocean on Saturn’s Moon Titan Could be as Salty as the Dead Sea, NASA “Scientists analyzing data from NASA’s Cassini mission have firm evidence the ocean inside Saturn’s largest moon, Titan, might be as salty as the Earth’s Dead Sea. The new results come from a study of gravity and topography data collected during Cassini’s repeated flybys of Titan during the past 10 years. Using the Cassini data, researchers presented […]

Significant Titan Flyby Happening on July 10th, NASA “For the Radar instrument, one of the most significant Titan fly-bys of the extended Solstice mission occurs July 10. Measurements from this flyby, combined with data from the previous flyby, will allow scientists to produce stereo images of lakes. Inbound, the imaging science subsystem (ISS) will acquire a mosaic of high northern latitudes on Titan’s leading hemisphere, approaching northern summer. This area […]

Photo: Titan and Dione As Seen by Cassini “Saturn’s third-largest moon Dione can be seen through the haze of its largest moon, Titan, in this view of the two posing before the planet and its rings from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft. This view looks toward the anti-Saturn side of Titan (3200 miles, 5150 kilometers across) and Dione (698 miles, 1123 kilometers across). North is up on the moons. This view looks […]

Image: Peering Through Titan’s South Pole Haze “These views from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft look toward the south polar region of Saturn’s largest moon, Titan, and show a depression within the moon’s orange and blue haze layers near the south pole. The close-up view was captured with the narrow-angle camera. Another view taken a second later with the wide-angle camera is also included here for context.”

– Photo: Madagascar, Nosy, Kalakajoro, Berafia, Antanimora and Valiha As Seen From Orbit – Photo: Crete As Seen From Orbit – Photo: Shooting Star As Seen From Above The Sky – In Orbit – Image: Titan’s Arrow-Shaped Storm – Photo: Greece and Turkey As Seen From Orbit

Photo: Titan And Another Moon Set Against Saturn’s Rings “This image was taken on May 21, 2011 and received on Earth May 22, 2011. The camera was pointing toward Titan at approximately 2,313,374 kilometers away, and the image was taken using the CL1 and GRN filters. This image has not been validated or calibrated.”

Cassini Sees Seasonal Rains Transform Titan’s Surface “As spring continues to unfold at Saturn, April showers on the planet’s largest moon, Titan, have brought methane rain to its equatorial deserts, as revealed in images captured by NASA’s Cassini spacecraft. Extensive rain from large cloud systems, spotted by Cassini’s cameras in late 2010, has apparently darkened the surface of the moon. The best explanation is these areas remained wet after methane […]