In Photos: Cassini Mission Ends with Epic Dive into Saturn

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Enceladus

NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute

This view of Saturn's moon Enceladus was captured on Sept. 13, 2017 at 8:40 a.m. PDT (11:40 EDT; 1540 GMT).

Titan

NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute

Cassini captured this raw image of Saturn's moon Titan on Sept. 12, 2017 at 2:51 a.m. PDT (5:51 a.m. EDT; 0951 GMT). [Full Story: Cassini Headed for Saturn Plunge After Titan 'Goodbye Kiss']

Saturn’s Rings

NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute

Cassini captured this view of Saturn’s rings on Sept. 13, 2017.

Saturn’s Rings Again

NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute

Another image of Saturn’s rings taken by Cassini on Sept. 13, 2017.

Cassini’s Final Image: Color Version

NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute

A color version of Cassini’s final visible-light photo, created using images taken with red, green and blue spectral filters.

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Hanneke Weitering
Hanneke Weitering
Contributing expert

Hanneke Weitering is a multimedia journalist in the Pacific Northwest reporting on the future of aviation at FutureFlight.aero and Aviation International News and was previously the Editor for Spaceflight and Astronomy news here at Space.com. As an editor with over 10 years of experience in science journalism she has previously written for Scholastic Classroom Magazines, MedPage Today and The Joint Institute for Computational Sciences at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. After studying physics at the University of Tennessee in her hometown of Knoxville, she earned her graduate degree in Science, Health and Environmental Reporting (SHERP) from New York University. Hanneke joined the Space.com team in 2016 as a staff writer and producer, covering topics including spaceflight and astronomy. She currently lives in Seattle, home of the Space Needle, with her cat and two snakes. In her spare time, Hanneke enjoys exploring the Rocky Mountains, basking in nature and looking for dark skies to gaze at the cosmos. 

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