OrbitalHub

NASA dixit:

“November 4, 2011. Saturn’s rings lie between a pair of moons in this Cassini spacecraft view that features Mimas and Prometheus. Mimas (246 miles or 396 kilometers across) is the more noticeable of the two moons and is in the top left of the view. The smaller moon Prometheus (53 miles, or 86 kilometers across) is near the center of the image and is closest to Cassini. Mimas is beyond the rings and farthest from the spacecraft. Lit terrain seen on Mimas is on the leading hemisphere of the moon. This view looks toward the northern, sunlit side of the rings from just above the ringplane.

The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera. The view was acquired at a distance of approximately 746,000 miles (1.2 million kilometers) from Prometheus and 870,000 miles (1.4 million kilometers) from Mimas. Image scale is 4 miles (7 kilometers) per pixel on Prometheus and 5 miles (8 kilometers) per pixel on Mimas.”

“After almost 20 years in space, NASA’s Cassini spacecraft begins the final chapter of its remarkable story of exploration: its Grand Finale. Between April and September 2017, Cassini will undertake a daring set of orbits that is, in many ways, like a whole new mission. Following a final close flyby of Saturn’s moon Titan, Cassini will leap over the planet’s icy rings and begin a series of 22 weekly dives between the planet and the rings.

No other mission has ever explored this unique region. What we learn from these final orbits will help to improve our understanding of how giant planets – and planetary systems everywhere – form and evolve.

On the final orbit, Cassini will plunge into Saturn’s atmosphere, sending back new and unique science to the very end. After losing contact with Earth, the spacecraft will burn up like a meteor, becoming part of the planet itself.

Cassini’s Grand Finale is about so much more than the spacecraft’s final dive into Saturn. That dramatic event is the capstone of six months of daring exploration and scientific discovery. And those six months are the thrilling final chapter in a historic 20-year journey.”

Image credit: NASA