In Photos: Cassini Mission Ends with Epic Dive into Saturn

Before NASA's Cassini spacecraft began the "grand finale" phase of its mission at Saturn, it took one last photo of the giant planet and its ring system from afar

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Cassini's Last Photo

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute

This is the last image taken by NASA's Cassini spacecraft before it dove into Saturn's atmosphere. It shows the location where the spacecraft would enter the planet's atmosphere hours later. Cassini took the photo on Sept. 14, 2017 at 12:59 p.m. PDT (3:59 p.m. EDT; 19:59 GMT).

Saturn

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute

Cassini shot this photo of Saturn on Sept. 13, 2017.