Get ready to see another world from the eyes of a dragonfly — at least, a robotic one.
NASA said Thursday that it’s sending a drone called Dragonfly to explore Saturn’s largest moon, Titan. Using propellers, the drone will fly and land on several spots on the icy moon to study whether it can support microbial life.
The nuclear-powered mission is part of NASA’s competitive New Frontiers program, which launched the New Horizons spacecraft that became the first to visit dwarf planet Pluto.
Dragonfly beat out nearly a dozen proposed projects, including a mission to collect samples from a nearby comet. The drone is slated to launch in 2026 and arrive at Titan in 2034. The plan is to land on some of Titan’s dunes and later on a crater. Development costs for the mission are capped at around $850 million.