Project Kronos: RPS-powered mission to explore prebiotic chemistry on Titan

Project Kronos will send a spacecraft to Titan using a gravity assist flyby of Earth to increase velocity and save fuel. When it gets to Titan, the spacecraft will deploy an RPS-powered rover and fixed-wing aerial vehicle. The aerial vehicle will fly over the surface of Titan, taking advantage of the dense atmosphere and low gravity, taking high-definition pictures of the surface to map the geography, such as suspected cryovolcanoes. The rover will explore points of interest like cryovolcanic flows and methane rivers more closely on the ground. It will use a mass spectrometer and other instruments to learn how far prebiotic chemistry has advanced in areas with liquid water or liquid methane and key ingredients such as pyrimidines and amino acids. This will help us learn how life developed on Earth. Radioisotope power systems are necessary because the thick atmosphere and distance from the sun causes the surface of Titan to receive only 0.1% of the sunlight that Earth receives. Solar panels would be ineffective and temperatures of -179 degrees Celsius would interfere with instruments. Radioisotope power systems will provide power and heat for the rover and aerial vehicle. Like Kronos leading the titans, my power is communication and cooperation. Nobody can design, launch, and direct an interplanetary mission on their own. I am able to work with many other people and coordinate their abilities in order to complete our task, as I’ve done in group projects at school and with my Cub Scout den building and launching model rockets. When I work in a group, I’m able to listen to everyone’s ideas and help them use their different skills to achieve our goals.