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NASA’s Titan drone mission has been delayed. If were one of the people waiting for the space agency to send a drone to Saturn’s moon, you will have to wait a little longer. Dragonfly’s launch has been postponed by a year or more. Unfortunately, it’s been rescheduled from 2026 to 2027. This is due to ‘external’ factors at play. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is part of the problem. The coronavirus has been a problem for a lot of things. COVID-19 has had a negative effect on the Planetary Science Division budget. This is the same everywhere else in the world.
This is the second delay. Before the first delay, NASA had planned to launch Dragonfly in 2025.
This will be the space agency’s first multi-rotor vehicle on another world. NASA’s Titan drone will be the first multi-rotor vehicle to carry a full science payload. The drone will fly in Titan’s atmosphere collecting samples for 9 years. NASA’s Dragonfly drone will study the prebiotic chemistry and habitability of Titan at an impact crater. Its going to be really awesome when it happens.
Because the mission is so long, it will take a while time to learn more about Titan. NASA’s Titan drone, Dragonfly, though, will shed much a lot more light on the mysterious moon as long as everything goes as planned.
Welcome to the new normal
It is definitely unfortunate that NASA’s Titan drone is being delayed. It not unusual though. The coronavirus pandemic has delayed many things lately. The number of daily infections is much higher than they were when all of this started in March. A lot of organizations and businesses all over the world are seeing delays that they never saw coming.
This issue is not unique to NASA
This problem is affecting everyone. Rockets are not launched on schedule. Phones are not launching on time. Your favorite snacks aren’t in stock. Some companies are going completely out of business due to the issues that have been caused by the virus. COVID-19 has been wrecking the supply chain for the entire year. Things will, however, eventually return to normal. The question, however, is when? That’s what’s on everyone’s mind. When will everything return to normal?
