We did it! Our Cassini spacecraft successfully dove through the gap between Saturn and its rings – an area previously unexplored by any spacecraft!
These unprocessed images show features in Saturn’s atmosphere from closer than ever before! These views were captured by our Cassini spacecraft during its first Grand Finale dive between the planet and its rings on April 26, 2017.
As Cassini dove through the gap, it came within about 1,900 miles (3,000 kilometers) of Saturn’s cloud tops (where the air pressure is 1 bar – comparable to the atmospheric pressure of Earth at sea level) and within about 200 miles (300 kilometers) of the innermost visible edge of the rings.
Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute
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