NASA's Dragonfly mission: the nuclear-powered drone on Titan moon.

 NASA's Dragonfly mission: the nuclear-powered drone on Titan moon. 

When the Dragonfly drone operates on Titan it requires complicated AI for surviving its mission. The system must find the radio marks from Earth's radio telescopes to aim its communication antenna. But the biggest problem in the Dragonfly mission will be the distance. 

The AI must control Dragonfly independently because control signals travel a very long time from Earth to that distant moon. 

Saturn's biggest moon, Titan is like a frozen laboratory that stores particles from a young solar system. Titan is also the only moon with a remarkable atmosphere. Another interesting thing is the hydrocarbon oceans on that moon. And maybe Dragonfly will dive into those hydrocarbon oceans to find their secrets. 

"Artist’s impression of Dragonfly soaring over the dunes of Saturn’s moon Titan. NASA has authorized the mission team to proceed on development toward a July 2028 launch date. Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Steve Gribben" (ScitechDaily.com/Nuclear-Powered Leap to Titan: NASA’s 2028 Dragonfly Drone Mission) Dragonfly can also used to test the next-generation nuclear-powered, manned, and unmanned helicopters. That can used in civil and military missions. 

Dragonfly can also act as a study project for highly advanced AI-driven nuclear-powered drones. 

Nuclear-powered drones can have virtually unlimited operational time. Those drones can use small nuclear reactors or RTG (Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator) for power delivery.  

The RTG can look like a regular battery. It can also used in any battery-operating vehicle. The RTG-driven drones can operate for years in the atmosphere. And the only limit is in motors. If motors will not stand things, like vibration that causes destruction. The nuclear-powered quadcopters can hover on the ground even years. 

And that makes them very suitable tools for reconnaissance, surveillance, and things like communication support. In disaster areas, the nuclear-powered drones can hover above areas, point people, and operate as communication support which means they can carry cell-phone support stations that deliver cell-phone traffic to the satellites.  

Those drones' military versions can also point to tanks and other targets from the battlefield. Those systems can also operate as shepherds for simpler drones. Maybe those futuristic large-size quadcopters can also dive underwater. There is a possibility that NASA wants to research Titan's hydrocarbon oceans. Similar systems can operate on Earth. 

https://scitechdaily.com/nuclear-powered-leap-to-titan-nasas-2028-dragonfly-drone-mission/