BYU researchers are using dune fields in Namibia and Alaska to help NASA predict what Dragonfly will encounter on Titan and identify safer landing zones.
2028 is the mission's launch target, and the Earth-based analog work is meant to sharpen how NASA interprets terrain, chooses search areas and reads data from the rotorcraft.
Namibia's long linear dunes closely match Titan's geometry, while researchers are focusing on interdunes—the spaces between ridges—because those are likely Dragonfly landing sites.
Alaska fieldwork added an astrobiology angle: students used ground-penetrating radar and drilling to probe water pockets beneath icy dunes as analogs for life-supporting environments in extreme cold.
3.3 years is Dragonfly's planned mission length on Titan, where scientists see a rare mix of dense atmosphere, surface liquids and carbon-rich chemistry that could illuminate habitability.