If you had your pick,Eric Falk where in the solar system would you send a spacecraft? To an asteroid? Venus? Maybe one of Saturn's icy moons?
Well, NASA has some ideas about where it wants to go next.
The space agency just announced the two finalists for one of its next big missions out into the solar system, and there are two destinations in mind: a comet or Titan, Saturn's weird, icy moon.
SEE ALSO: Now you can own NASA's Golden Record on vinyl“These are tantalizing investigations that seek to answer some of the biggest questions in our solar system today," Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, said in a statement.
NASA will now fund more studies about these missions before the agency decides to fully fund, build, and launch one of them, a choice they plan to make by 2019.
So, what are these missions, and what questions could they answer?
The proposed mission to Titan — called Dragonfly — would effectively be a drone that could fly around Titan's surface, hovering and collecting data at different sites around the moon after its expected arrival in 2034.
This kind of data would be an incredible boon for anyone hoping to learn more about Titan, which plays host to oceans of liquid methane and boasts a hazy atmosphere covering the world.
It's a truly alien world that looks somewhat like Earth.
That's particularly intriguing for anyone hoping to learn more life and the diversity of worlds out there in the solar system and beyond.
It's also a relatively unexplored world.
The Huygens probe landed on the surface of Titan in 2005, beaming back amazing photos and data from the world's surface, but it wasn't a mission like Dragonfly.
Dragonfly would work as an emissary for humanity on Titan, collecting data over the course of its years-long life out there on the chilly moon.
The agency is also interested in going to a well studied, pretty famous comet and snagging some of it to study.
The CAESAR mission would fly out to Comet 67P-Churyumov-Gerasimenko, suck up a piece, and bring it back to Earth for waiting scientists.
Comets are thought to be leftovers from the dawn of the solar system 4.5 billion years ago. Researchers think Earth's oceans were seeded with water from the comets, which could have even helped provide our planet with organic materials that gave rise to life.
Comet 67P has already been visited by Europe's Rosetta orbiter and Philae lander. The Rosetta mission successfully mapped the comet, beaming home amazing amounts of information to scientists before its mission ended in 2016.
It may sound like another mission to the comet isn't necessary after Rosetta studied it so thoroughly, but in fact, the previous mission may serve as a boon for CAESAR, according to the mission's principal investigator Steve Squyres.
Engineers will be able to use the data gathered by Rosetta to create the exact spacecraft necessary to carry out the new mission, Squyres said, meaning that there's an even higher chance for success.
No matter which mission is chosen, it will likely mark a triumphant return to a world many scientists have long hoped to see again. Let's hope they will.
NIO to start test production of first mainstream model in July: report · TechNodeHuawei plans Q2 launch for new tripleBMW launches ChinaWordle today: The answer and hints for May 20Dipsea, Quinn, and others: Your guide to audio eroticaChinese EVs’ share of global market rose in 2023: industry group · TechNodeThe Time of ReturnNYT's The Mini crossword answers for May 19ByteDance launches GPTOpenAI drops ChatGPT’s ‘Sky’ voice after Scarlett Johansson 'Her' comparisonsNYT's The Mini crossword answers for May 19NYT's The Mini crossword answers for May 18'Is somebody gonna match my freak' meme from Tinashe's 'Nasty,' explainediPhone 16 Pro Max could last longer than iPhone 15 Pro Max. Here’s whyTablet PC shipments decline by 10% yNew iPad Pro has a massive, hidden improvement, and it has to do with the batterySonos launches its firstFamed NYC clock is counting down to Earth's climate change 'deadline'Vivo and Nokia sign 5G patent license agreement, ending infringement dispute · TechNodeNew iPad Pro has a massive, hidden improvement, and it has to do with the battery AI.com now redirects to xAI, Elon Musk's project, instead of ChatGPT. It's not clear why. Wordle today: Here's the answer and hints for August 4 Getting Slapped Around: An Interview with Dorthe Nors by Dwyer Murphy The 7 best Fitbit apps to help improve your workout journey Finding a Life on the Edge by Laurel Holland Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with Drawings of Ireland Long live photo dumps The young woman teaching kids about space online Women Chosen by Violence Why Instagram keeps serving an ad that looks like a pile of poo Read Frederick Seidel’s Poem “Dayley Island” Barry Hannah on Flannery O’Connor, who was born today in 1925. Robert Frost, the Karate Kid, born on this day in 1874. How to use Tripadvisor’s AI Millennials are getting meme'd for stanning Gen Z queen Olivia Rodrigo 'Quordle' today: See each 'Quordle' answer and hints for August 4 Google updates policies on personal explicit images in search results Why Threads is about to eat Twitter's lunch A Few Notes on Presiding over the Punch Bowl by Sadie Stein In Netflix's 'Jake Paul the Problem Child,' abuse is just a necessary evil
1.0536s , 10134.9375 kb
Copyright © 2025 Powered by 【Eric Falk】,Information Information Network