Titan Winged Aerobot
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Titan Winged Aerobot(TWA) is a newaerobotexploration vehicle (under creation) to enter the surface ofSaturn's largest moonTitan.NASAhas given this contract toGlobal Aerospace CorporationandNorthrop Grummancollectively on July 6, 2016. Under the contract of 2016 NASA Small Business Innovation Research, both the teams will develop the TWA concept and produce aproof of conceptprototype for Earth-based testing.[1]
Titan Winged Aerobot features will be its ultra-low power requirement and extended vertical range, both of which is inspired by Northrop Grumman's Titan lifting entry atmosphere flight (T-Leaf) platform. Titan'satmosphereis denser than Earth's atmosphere, with the atmospheric pressure of 1.45 atm. Its atmosphere contains 98.4%nitrogenwith remaining 1.6% is composed of 1.4%methaneand 0.1-0.2%hydrogen.Titan's cold and harsh environment can cause problems to any lighter-than-air exploration. TWA will be designed in the way that it can overcome those challenges.[1]
Design[edit]
TWA is the vehicle with3-Ddirectional control so that it can complete its objectives of researching Titan's environment, while using minimal power from a singleradioisotopepower source. Constantly moving in an atmosphere will facilitate long lived flight at low altitudes and target delivery to the surface.[1]
Titan is the only moon with an atmosphere, and its atmosphere is the only known nitrogen-rich atmosphere in theSolar System.The observations fromVoyager 1andCassini–Huygensshows that its atmosphere is denser than Earth's with the atmospheric pressure of 1.45 atm. It is 1.9 times as massive as Earth overall.
References[edit]
- ^abc"Titan Winged Aerobot".Global Aerospace Corporation.July 6, 2016.Retrieved17 July2016.
