Space X will launch a Dragonfly probe to Titan.

"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, NASA’s Dragonfly: SpaceX To Launch Daring Mission to Saturn’s Moon Titan)

The Dragonfly is one of the most daring missions in history. The AI-controlled quadcopter will be launched to Saturn's moon Titan, and there. That probe will research the distant moon. Its atmosphere. And its hydrocarbon lakes. The Dragonfly itself is an interesting concept. If the image above really portrays a Dragonfly. That probe is like a quadcopter. And it seems to have four Kamov-type propellers that give it higher speed than traditional propellers. 

In those propellers, the system tilts the rotor's edge against each other. And that makes it possible to aim the thrust. Those propellers give that system extremely good maneuverability. 

Those propellers are seen in Kamov helicopters. The engine system gets its energy from nuclear batteries or isotope generators (RTG). The thing is that the Titan atmosphere makes it possible to use wind energy on that strange word. 

The Dragonfly concept is suitable for next-generation manned helicopters. The high-speed quadcopter designs can be useful in many missions. Electric engine-operating quadcopters can be a low-noise application. The turbine-based hybrid system allows this system can travel fast between targets, and near the destination, the system can turn to use electric engines. 

If those electric systems and cabins are protected against pressure the quadcopter can also operate underwater. And those systems can give new abilities. For civil and military operations. The underwater-capable quadcopter can fix undersea cables and check structures above and below the surface. The same system can transport military operators to the coastline underwater and then fly them to the building's roofs.

The main difference. Between the FVR-90 hybrid drone that you can see above. And supersonic versions are that. The supersonic versions can pull those quadrotors in the structure. That means the side bodies are a bit longer and the craft's shape is tuned to fit supersonic flight with possible stealth capacities. 

In some visions, the next-generation high-speed jet fighters are quadcopters that can have high-power jet engines. Or, quadcopters can raise those jet aircraft up from the ground. At the right altitude, they can drop the aircraft which can accelerate its speed. But those systems can have internal quadcopter structures. 

The system in the lower image might look a little bit like the jet-engined version. But in that jet-engined version, the main propeller is replaced by a jet engine and high-speed abilities are better. 

Those high-speed systems can use the quadcopter mode in low-speed, low-noise flight. Those quadrotors can be systems that the aircraft can pull while it travels fast. Or they can be small independent operating helicopters that can rise and transport aircraft away from city areas. Then those systems can be separated. And then. Those systems can travel away from the city area and start their jet engines. Those radical concepts will lower the flight noise. 

https://fi.pinterest.com/pin/290622982200791695/

https://scitechdaily.com/nasas-dragonfly-spacex-to-launch-daring-mission-to-saturns-moon-titan/

The new thermal system can turn waste heat into electricity.

"A recent study shows tungsten disilicide’s potential in efficient heat-to-electricity conversion, promising advances in thermoelectric technology. Credit: SciTechDaily.com"  (ScitechDaily, Clean Energy Breakthrough Turns Waste Heat Into Usable Electricity)

"Researchers have demonstrated a new method for converting heat to electricity using tungsten disilicide, showing potential for more efficient thermoelectric devices that could revolutionize energy efficiency in various applications." (ScitechDaily, Clean Energy Breakthrough Turns Waste Heat Into Usable Electricity)

"Thermoelectric materials, which convert heat into electricity, play a crucial role in capturing waste heat and transforming it into usable power. These materials are particularly beneficial in industries and vehicles where engines produce significant waste heat, enhancing energy efficiency by generating additional electricity. They also hold promise for portable power applications, such as remote sensors and satellites, where traditional power sources may not be feasible." (ScitechDaily, Clean Energy Breakthrough Turns Waste Heat Into Usable Electricity)

The ability to turn waste heat into electricity increases the efficiency of power plants. Those things can also increase the efficiency of solar panels because they can collect heat from their black shells and then turn it into electricity. This kind of system can decrease the need for fuel in power stations. But this kind of system does not create electricity from the emptiness. 

"This paper is the first direct demonstration of the transverse thermoelectric generation in WSi2, and the results could pave the way for more efficient thermoelectric devices. Credit: Ryuji Okazaki from Tokyo University of Science, Japan"(ScitechDaily, Clean Energy Breakthrough Turns Waste Heat Into Usable Electricity)

They turn IR- or thermal energy into electricity. And that makes them a good system to collect electricity from places like fusion platforms. That thing makes it possible to create systems that are making fusion systems like Tokamaks more efficient. When the thermoelectric elements turn IR radiation into electricity they take heat energy out from the shell. And maybe those systems can make it possible to create a fusion reactor that uses less energy than it delivers. 

The problem with traditional heat control systems is that they bind thermal energy into a medium like water. But the problem is where that water flow conducts energy. The heat exchangers are effective tools if there is a lake or river where that system can dump energy. The possibility to transform thermal energy into electricity makes it possible to create a system that transports thermal energy out from the system using radio waves or laser beams.

Those systems can revolutionize aviation and space technology. It can transport thermal energy out from the small size nuclear reactors in the form of electromagnetic radiation. The system can transport thermal energy out from high-temperature layers like from rocket engines. The system can also used to decrease temperatures from the shells of hypersonic aircraft and conduct electricity to plasma jet engines. 

The heat is the problem with hypersonic flight. But what if the system can turn heat into electricity and transport that electricity out from the shell? 

The system can used in new ways to decrease the temperature of the machines and make high-temperature systems more energy efficient. The blast furnaces can take thermal energy into use. Those systems can be used to collect energy from the small probes that can dive deep into the solar atmosphere. The solar panels would be effective. And they are in use at Parker Probe. 

But the ability to turn thermal energy into electricity allows to creation of probes that can go closer than Parker. The solar panels or their wires can melt even if they are in the vacuum thermos layer. The ability to close the probe into the thermal protecting layers makes it possible to transport the probe closer to the sun than ever. 

But the system that turns thermal energy into electricity without in-between. The new thermoelectric system can make new possibilities. For example the hypersonic flight. The ability to take thermal energy out from the shell by turning it into electricity makes it possible to create systems that cool the layers in fast-moving aircraft. 

The system can transport electricity to the engines where the electric system can increase the power of the engine. The idea is that electric arcs can raise the temperature of burning fuel. But. the system can also feed energy to things like plasma jet engines. That can make the aircraft more effective than ever before.

https://www1.grc.nasa.gov/aeronautics/eap/

https://interestingengineering.com/innovation/new-electric-jet-engine-actually-works-inside-the-atmosphere

https://www.iter.org

https://science.nasa.gov/mission/parker-solar-probe/

https://scitechdaily.com/clean-energy-breakthrough-turns-waste-heat-into-usable-electricity/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokamak

Drones have new missions. From Jupiter's moons to a depth of oceans.

"In the Sensing With Independent Micro-Swimmers (SWIM) concept, illustrated here, dozens of small robots would descend through the icy shell of a distant moon via a cryobot – depicted at left – to the ocean below. The project has received funding from the NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts program. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech" (ScitechDaily, Could NASA’s Tiny Robots Discover Life on Europa?)

The most impressive mission for drones or independently operating miniature submarines will be the search for life from Jupiter's moon Europa. The thing is that also two other large moons, Ganymede and Callisto could have similar oceans under their icy surfaces. 

And the third Galilean moon, Io has sulfur volcanoes that are also interesting geological objects. But the main object for that mission could be Europa, the icy moon with icy geysers. The probe can slip the small submarine into those geysers and maybe they can reach the ocean under that icy surface. The done can communicate with the surface unit by using sonars. 

"After completing testing, the Robotic Servicing of Geosynchronous Satellites (RSGS) payload resides in the cryogenic thermal vacuum chamber at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory’s Naval Center for Space Technology in Washington, D.C. Oct. 8, 2024. Once on-orbit, the RSGS payload will inspect and service satellites in geosynchronous orbit. Credit: U.S. Navy photo by Sarah Peterson" (ScitechDaily, DARPA’s Robots to the Rescue: Transforming Satellite Maintenance in Space)

Large-size drone swarms can cover large areas under the icy surface. They can have only a limited number of sensors. But those drones make sensor fusion. And the drone swarm behaves like one bigger platform. This means. Those drones can carry similar sensors. As one large probe or aircraft. But the difference is that those sensors are under different independently operating bodies. And if one of those drones is gone, that doesn't make the failure to the entire mission.  

And that nuclear-powered unit will find a strange water world that is interesting even if there are no living organisms. But those small, long-lasting, independently operating drones can also have missions on Earth. The small AI-controlled drones can also operate in icy lakes under the Antarctean and Greenland icy shells. Things like closed caves and underwater water routes can also be places. That those drones can map. 

"In this illustration, a NASA space exploration concept called Probe using Radioisotopes for Icy Moons Exploration, or PRIME, is depicted being deployed from a lander on the frozen surface of an ocean world. The nuclear-powered probe, also called a cryobot, glows red in the subsurface ocean while connected via a communications tether to a lander miles above on the icy crust. Wedge-shaped, cellphone-size robots – another concept, called Sensing With Independent Micro-Swimmers, or SWIM – are seen traveling off underwater to conduct science beyond the heat of the probe. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech" (ScitechDaily, Could NASA’s Tiny Robots Discover Life on Europa?)

They can collect information about the closed ecosystems. That can be isolated even for thousands of years. But the same systems. That can map and research insects. Also, can collect data from other things. Drones can collect information about underwater systems like submarines. The new radar systems can follow underwater acoustic communication. The same systems can also search for information from the targeted people's discussions. 

The radars can search for things like pressure waves from air or water. And they can used to record the things that people say. Water carries sound at a very long distance. And the system that can measure the oscillation of the water surface can break the privacy of people, who are not careful. The submarine that travels in the water lines can eavesdrop on people in their houses and even the army headquarters. 

The new innovative robots can act as maintenance missions for spacecraft. They could repair the unmanned satellites and probes if they face problems. The repairing robot is the tool that can make the things like large-size, nuclear-powered drones more effective. They can be sure that the expensive system can fulfill its mission.  But similar robots can also fix other underwater drones and structures. The undersea robot can also make it possible to return unmanned systems that return from intelligence or strike missions. 

 https://interestingengineering.com/innovation/eavesdropping-underwater-messge-transmission

https://scitechdaily.com/could-nasas-tiny-robots-discover-life-on-europa/

https://scitechdaily.com/darpas-robots-to-the-rescue-transforming-satellite-maintenance-in-space/