>NASA has chosen two proposed missions from its New Frontiers competition >One mission wants to search for alien life on Saturn's moon Titan using a drone >The other aims to take samples from the comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko >The winner will be chosen in 2019 - both cost about $850 million in development
The winner of the two missions - one to explore a comet and another Saturn's moon Titan - will launch in 2020s. The missions were chosen under NASA's New Frontiers competition programme, from 12 proposals that had been submitted of last year.
which one do you want the most user?
Carson Cox
>Titan is Saturn's largest moon, and is seen as one of the most likely hosts of some form of life in the solar system because of its rivers and lakes filled with methane.
>The mission, called Dragonfly, would involve sending a 'drone-like rotorcraft that would explore the prebiotic chemistry and habitability of dozens of sites,' NASA said in a statement.
>The eight-bladed 'dragonfly' drone would fly from one region of Titan to the next, recharging while landed using its own nuclear generator.
>It could investigate potentially habitable sites on the moon, which has methane and ethane lakes and rivers.
>It's one of a few 'ocean world's' in our solar system that has the ingredients for life, and the rich organic material that covers the moon is undergoing chemical processes that might be similar to those on early Earth.
that one sounds cool
Caleb Campbell
Definitely titan
Jacob Young
>venus mission dropped again There's always the third millennium.
Leo Evans
>winner
What is this a lottery?
Leo Evans
>It could investigate potentially habitable sites on the moon Aka never because muh risk of contamination.
Bentley Lopez
>meanwhile China is trying to do everything they can to get people into space and colonize the entire fucking thing before anyone else
Christian Gray
I think its the desire to make a career and retire on low risk programs, preferably zero if possible. That or maybe even outright malice so that other friendly and progressive nations may catch up. We've seen that with ussr spies during the cold war so it's not out of the question. Probably both to a degree and massive bureaucracy aided by inefficient contracting.
Joseph Bell
Titan is probably the first place we'll go in the outer system, simply because its easier to go to Titan than any Jupiter moon
Obviously Venus and Mercury should come first though
Yea sure sounds great ETA? 2036 arrival at Titan no doubt
Jack Gray
its gona be the asteroid one... why? $$$. nasa/industry wants that asteroid mining thingy.
