NASA’s Cassini spacecraft was launched into space in 1997 to study the planet Saturn – and since reaching it’s orbit in 2004, it has sent back some stunning images over more than a decade.
And now, as it nears its expiration, with NASA planning to crash the spacecraft into Saturn’s surface soon, the spacecraft has sent a back a beautiful picture of our planet Earth, as seen through the rings of Saturn.
NASA also put out other photos of the Saturn taken by the Cassini spacecraft, named after Italian mathematician Giovanni Domenico Cassini, who was the first one to discover the rings around Saturn in 1625.
The spacecraft, which is low on fuel now, started diving through the rings of frozen debris around Saturn on April 26, as it makes its final descent to its end. The gap between Saturn’s rigs had previously been uncharted territory, but scientists at NASA considered it a better idea to crash the craft into the planet’s surface rather than risking damage to any of Saturn’s moons by depositing the craft there – especially since they think there could be life on those moons.
Feature Image Source: Reuters (Representational)