NASA Invites Public to Send Names to Titan on Dragonfly

NASA is inviting the public to send names aboard the Dragonfly mission to Titan. The names will be carried on a microchip, and participants receive a personalized digital boarding pass.

NASA's invitation asks the public to submit names for flight on Dragonfly. The names will be placed on a microchip, and participants receive a personalized digital boarding pass.

The name-list deadline is 23:59 EST on Jan. 15, 2027.

Dragonfly is a rotor-wing aircraft, also described as a rotorcraft. It is NASA's first-ever rotorcraft science mission and the first scientific mission to fly over another world's surface.

The mission will land on Titan, Saturn's largest moon, which has a dense atmosphere, methane rivers and lakes, dunes, and an organic-rich landscape. The aircraft is to fly among multiple locations on the moon, examining environments and looking for clues about prebiotic chemistry.

Dragonfly is being assembled in Laurel, Maryland, with design and construction in progress. The mission is led by the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, part of Johns Hopkins University, for NASA, and Elizabeth Turtle is principal investigator. The launch date is 2028, and the landing date is 2034.

Dragonfly is the fourth mission in the New Frontiers Program. The program is administered by NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, for the Science Mission Directorate, which is based at NASA headquarters in Washington. Nicky Fox is associate administrator of that directorate.

For readers tracking the lunar industry, the item provides verified NASA milestones for a public participation payload, rotorcraft development, assembly status, launch date and landing date, even though the destination is Titan.

The public can submit names until 23:59 EST on Jan. 15, 2027.

Dragonfly's launch date is 2028, and its landing date is 2034.