MTI teams and volunteers are invited to the 2026 STEM Expo to hear first hand from the scientists and engineers working on cutting edge missions at  JHU/APL.

Topic: NASA's Dragonfly Mission - Every Problem Is New. Every Solution Has to Be Too.
Date: Friday June 26
Time: 3:30 pm
Location: JHU/APL's Kossiakoff Center Auditorium
 
Preregistration is required:

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Team Registration

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Volunteer Registration

 

NASA’s Dragonfly is an ambitious mission of exploration that will send a nuclear-powered rotorcraft to Saturn’s moon Titan, where it will fly between scientific sites to study the moon’s chemistry, geology, and meteorology.

 

Managed and built by the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (JHU/APL), Dragonfly represents a major advance in extraterrestrial flight technology because Titan’s dense atmosphere and low gravity make powered flight especially effective for exploration. Unlike traditional rovers, the dual-quadcopter design will allow the vehicle to travel kilometers between locations, demonstrating autonomous aerial navigation, vertical takeoff and landing, and sustained flight in an alien environment. The mission combines planetary science with cutting-edge aeronautical engineering, expanding NASA’s experience with rotorcraft operations beyond Earth and paving the way for future airborne exploration of other worlds.

 

Dragonfly is currently being assembled at JHU/APL and will launch in July 2028.  This year's MTI STEM expo will focus on what it takes to fly on a frozen, alien world and will include (weather permitting) a live demonstration of the Dragonfly Integrated Test Model; a surrogate for testing flight and landing algorithms.

Check out the NASA missions covered in the past STEM Expo programs: