On Sept. 15, 2017, the Cassini spacecraft made a fateful plunge into Saturn's atmosphere, ending the mission just one month shy of its 20th launch anniversary. Because Saturn is so far from Earth, Cassini was gone for about 83 minutes by the time its final signal reaches the Deep Space Network's Canberra station in Australia on Sept. 15, 2017.

The Cassini space probe performed two gravitational-assist flybys of Venus on April 26, 1998, and June 24, 1999. These flybys provided the space probe with enough momentum to travel all the way out to the asteroid belt, while the Sun's gravity pulled the space probe back into the inner Solar System.

A thrilling epoch in the exploration of our solar system came to a close today, as NASA’s Cassini spacecraft made a fateful plunge into the atmosphere of Saturn, ending its 13-year tour of the ringed planet.

Artist's concept of Cassini 's controlled atmospheric entry into Saturn. The Cassini space probe was deliberately disposed of via a controlled fall into Saturn's atmosphere on September 15, 2017, ending its nearly two-decade-long mission.

On September 15, 2017, the 20-year Cassini mission ended in a "death dive" into Saturn's upper atmosphere, collecting data until the spacecraft broke apart and became part of the planet...