What was the Cassini probe, when did the spacecraft’s Saturn mission end and what images did it take?
The spacecraft was sent to unlock secrets about the band of ice and space rocks that circle Saturn
NASA's Cassini spacecraft plunged into Saturn's atmosphere after a pioneering journey that could unlock the mysteries of the sixth planet from the sun.
The first of the spaceship's 22 deep dives between Saturn and its innermost rings began on April 26, and the mission came to an end in September. Here's all the info...
What is Cassini?
Cassini is a 20-year-old joint mission carried out by Nasa, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency.
The 22-foot-tall spacecraft launched in 1997 and began orbiting Saturn in 2004.
One of Cassini's most important discoveries was the existence of a massive watery ocean under the icy surface of Enceladus that could conceivably harbour life.
Cassini made its death plunge into Saturn's surface on September 15.
What was Cassini's mission?
The spacecraft was launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, in 1997 and took seven years to reach Saturn.
It was originally intended to explore the planet and its moons for just three years.
In the end, its life was extended by another decade.
The space mission is regarded as one of the most ambitious and successful ever undertaken.
The decision to end the mission was made in 2010, to avoid damaging moons like Enceladus, which could be explored for signs of life in the future.
The space craft's fate was sealed on September 11 when it was sent on a final fly-by of distant Titan, 760,000 miles from Saturn.
Titan's gravity nudged it onto a course back to Saturn from which there would be no return. Scientists nicknamed it the "goodbye kiss".
What are Saturn's rings?
The rings around Saturn - a gas giant that is second in size in our solar system only to Jupiter - are thousands of miles wide, but only 30 to 300 feet deep.
The spacecraft's final dive aimed to offer a fresh look at the rings, potentially revealing more about their mass and whether they are old or new.
"If the rings are massive, this means that they are old. They can date back to the formation of the Saturnian system," Iess said.
"If the mass is small, then the rings are young and they have been formed by a different process."
Some scientists believe that rings could have formed after asteroids smashed into some of Saturn's moons, creating a trail of debris.
Saturn has more than 60 moons, and Cassini has made new discoveries on some of them, which may have conditions suitable for a form of life.
'A GRANDE FINALE'
Dr Daniel Brown, an astronomy expert at Nottingham Trent University, said: “The 13 year Cassini mission is now coming to an end with its grand finale.
"The space probe has revealed many surprises about Saturn and its moons, Including further evidence of life-supporting conditions in the ocean below the surface of Enceladus.
“The mission will end with a controlled crash into Saturn in three months’ time, but in the meantime it has started with the first of 22 stunning orbits diving in between Saturn and its rings. Something which has never been done and is also quite risky.
“As an astronomer, I have been amazed by the rings around Saturn from a young age. These dives might just be the thing that can tell us more about how old these rings are and how they work.
“What is particularly interesting is that they are amazingly bright as if the ice has not been covered by meteorite dust, but we'll see today what more Cassini tells us.”
The flyby should also provide more information about the interior of Saturn.
"We hope to get a measurement of the core mass, how many heavy elements are concentrated in the interior of Saturn," said Iess.
Cassini dropped a European probe on Saturn's massive moon Titan and revealed its surface of methane liquid seas, including a complex system of methane rain and runoff.
It discovered that the icy moon Enceladus conceals a subsurface, salty ocean beneath its crust, and may be able to support living microbes.
Cassini also observed storms, lightning and clouds around Saturn for the first time.
Cassini has made "a wealth of discoveries," said Nicolas Altobelli, Cassini project scientist with the European Space Agency.
"We will have to rewrite many textbooks on planetary science."
