Cassini captures ‘closest look ever’ at Saturn in sensational new photos — RT Viral

NASA’s Cassini spacecraft has re-established contact with Earth, sending back extraordinary new photographs as it ventures where no spaceship has travelled before – between Saturn and its rings.

The gap between the rings and the top of Saturn’s atmosphere is about 2,400km (1,500 miles) wide.Cassini passed through the gap at speeds of about 123,000kph (77,000mph) on Wednesday as part of the craft’s final exploratory mission dubbed the ‘Grand finale.’

The craft used its dish-shaped antenna as a shield against oncoming particles while it travelled through the region as scientists feared that even small particles could have disabled the spacecraft. Using the dish in this way forced Cassini to lose contact with Earth.

The ship was programmed to collect data while close to the planet and then turn back towards Earth to re-establish contact. It successfully completed the maneuver on…

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