Advanced Concepts Initiative (NAIC) program at Godmother presented a new sample return system to ground which takes advantage of resources at the destination as a propellant for return.
Applied to the specific scenario of Saturn’s moon Titan, this proposal uses in situ volatile propellants available on its surface. The idea is to provide a system for returning mission evidence obtained on Earth. dragon-fly, a flying artifact that is expected to be shipped in 2027 to reach Titan in 2036 in order to explore Titan.
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This approach to Titan is very different from all conventional concepts of in situ resource use and will make a very valuable return from a scientific point of view to planetary science, astrobiology and the understanding of the origin of life, which is an order of magnitude larger. missions, explains in a statement Steven Oleson of NASA’s Glenn Research Center, to argue this mission statement.
Usually, missions to distant celestial objects must bring enough propellant for the return journey (which means a lot of extra mass and higher costs) or have a nuclear battery that can provide energy for several years.
As can be seen in the illustration, the new approach would consist of a landing vehicle and a lift vehicle. Once they landed on the surface of Titan, they could help the Dragonfly mission by receiving samples collected by the quadcopter.
Using on-site resources, the lander could provide liquid methane and liquid oxygen fuel (created from local ice) for the ascent vehicle. This vehicle would then be loaded with samples collected by Dragonfly and then taken back to Earth.
If it does not carry its own thruster, the mission sample return element would have a lower total mass and therefore cost less for launch.