The agency announced that the Dragonfly mission passed validation testing. Dragonfly, a nuclear-powered helicopter that will explore various locations on Titan to study Titan’s habitability, is entering large-scale development.
The mission will cost $3.35 billion; This is twice as much as initial expectations. Reasons for the increased cost include redevelopment due to budget constraints, the impact of the pandemic and supply issues.
Despite cost challenges, the agency reaffirmed its support for the mission. For NASA in general and planetary exploration programs in particular, these cost increases have an impact on future programs. NASA has postponed its call for proposals for the fifth New Horizons mission and also warned of delays for future Discovery and small space missions.
Source: Ferra
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