A new mission to Saturn’s giant moon, Titan, is due to launch in 2027. When it arrives in the mid-2030s, it will begin a journey of discovery that could bring about a new understanding of the development of life in the universe. This mission, called Dragonfly, will carry an instrument called the Dragonfly Mass Spectrometer, designed to help scientists hone in on the chemistry at work on Titan. It may also shed light on the kinds of chemical steps that occurred on Earth that ultimately led to the formation of life, called prebiotic chemistry. 

To accomplish this, the Dragonfly robotic rotorcraft will capitalize on Titan’s low gravity and dense atmosphere to fly between different points of interest on Titan’s surface, spread as far as several miles apart. This allows Dragonfly to relocate its entire suite of instruments to a new site when the previous one has been fully explored and provides access to samples in environments with a variety of geologic histories.

Hubble Weather Report: Jupiter and Uranus – Since its launch in 1990, the Hubble Space Telescope has been an interplanetary weather observer, keeping an eye on the largely gaseous outer planets and their ever-changing atmospheres. Spacecraft missions to the outer planets have given us a close-up look at these atmospheres, but Hubble's sharpness and sensitivity keeps an unblinking eye on a kaleidoscope of complex activities over time.

Spotted: Swirling, Gritty Clouds on Remote Planet – A team of researchers observing with the James Webb Space Telescope has pinpointed silicate cloud features in a distant planet’s atmosphere. Cataloged as VHS 1256 b, the planet is about 40 light-years away and orbits not one, but two stars over a 10,000-year period.

Adam Driver and Kelly Fast Discuss Asteroids – 65 actor Adam Driver and NASA Planetary Defender Kelly Fast discuss how we find, track, and monitor near-Earth asteroids, as well as test technologies – like NASA’s DART mission – that could one day be used to prevent a potential impact, should a hazardous asteroid be discovered. The duo also talks about the OSIRIS-REx mission and the asteroid sample the spacecraft will bring to Earth this September.

How to Build a Spacecraft – Spacecraft go through a lot in order to explore dangerous worlds across the cold expanse of space–not to mention the chaos of a launch! So how do we build a mission that can take on these environments and the harrowing trip to reach them? Explore the world of mission-building with Dr. Stephanie Getty and systems engineer Matt Garrison from Venus’ DAVINCI mission.

Titan, Saturn’s largest moon, looks quite small in comparison to the giant planet behind it in this natural color view from the Cassini-Huygens spacecraft. This image from Aug. 29, 2012, also shows seasonal changes occurring on Saturn; as spring comes to the northern Saturnian hemisphere, the azure blue seen fades, while winter in the south adds a bluish hue. This phenomenon is likely due to shifts in the intensity of ultraviolet light and the haze it produces.