NASA wires up Dragonfly and names the landing area

NASA has designated the landing area for the Dragonfly rotorcraft scheduled to land on Titan in 2034 as Ahmakiq Undae. This name has been approved by the International Astronomical Union (IAU), and the relevant updates were released by NASA near the time of the spacecraft’s launch. Dragonfly began manufacturing at the end of 2024, with assembly expected to be completed one year later. Engineers recently installed a wiring system consisting of approximately 17,315 feet of cable and 374 connectors, weighing about 100 pounds, along with nearly 300 pounds of batteries. The nuclear-powered probe is nearly 13 feet in length, equipped with eight sets of rotors, a landing skier, and power protection covers, and is scheduled to reach Titan at the end of 2034. Previously, ESA successfully landed the Huygens probe in this area in 2005. Dragonfly will operate as a flight laboratory on Titan for at least 3.3 years, exploring a variety of environments ranging from organic dunes to Selk crater. The probe…