Backstage Pass to Iapetus

Oct. 15, 2012 update: check out the top voted images for the 15th anniversary of the launch. http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/news/cassinifeatures/feature20120926/ Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

The Cassini mission’s epic 13-year exploration of Saturn is coming to a close. On Sept. 15, the spacecraft will make a planned plunge into the atmosphere of Saturn in order to protect pristine icy ...

This is a computer-rendered image of Cassini during the Saturn Orbit Insertion (SOI) maneuver, just after the main engine has begun firing. The spacecraft is moving out of the plane of the page and...

These Voyager mission infographics put solar system distances in perspective.

A whimsical mission poster inspired by a 1970s advertising campaign.

This artist's concept shows the rough sizes of the planets relative to each other. Correct distances are not shown. 

+ Unannotated Version NASA’s Cassini spacecraft obtained this image of a feature shaped like a hot cross bun in the northern region of Titan (left) that bears a striking resemblance to a similar...

Saturn will be visible in clear skies during Cassini's final plunge into Saturn on Sept. 15, 2017.

These flags illustrate the international scope of the Cassini program. Although its primary sponsors are NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), and the Italian Space Agency (ASI), the Cassini team ...

Diagram of the Cassini spacecraft and Huygens probe.

Some key numbers from the Cassini-Huygens mission to Saturn.

This movie sequence of images from NASA's Cassini spacecraft offers a unique perspective on Saturn’s ring system. 

Here’s how the solar wind interacts with a few select planets and other celestial bodies.

Pioneer and Voyager trajectories through the early 1990s.

This still is from a short computer-animated film that highlights Cassini's accomplishments and Saturn and reveals the science-packed final orbits between April and September 2017.

+ Higher Res This graphic shows highlights of the tour of NASA's Cassini spacecraft around the Saturn system. It was created by David Seal of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Credit: NASA/JP...

Artist's concept of the final orbits of the Cassini spacraft at Saturn.

Dawn's launch vehicle is a variant of the Delta II known as a Delta 2925H.

This graph shows the energetic ion and electron data from the Saturn orbit insertion interval on June 30 and July 1, 2004.

This artist’s concept shows an over-the-shoulder view of Cassini making one of its Grand Finale dives over Saturn.

This map of the surface of Saturn's moon Mimas illustrates the regions that were imaged by Cassini during the spacecraft's flyby of the moon on Aug. 2, 2005. At closest approach, the spacecraft pas...

This diagram created by Cassini mission planners illustrates the close approaches of the spacecraft during its Grand Finale orbits between Saturn's innermost (D) ring and the giant planet's atmosph...

Scientists from NASA's Cassini mission suggested in a 2016 paper that the appearance of a cloud of dicyanoacetylene (C4N2) ice in Titan's stratosphere may be explained by “solid-state” chemistry ta...

This composite image, which has become a popular poster, shows a global view of Earth at night, compiled from over 400 satellite images

Version B of the asteroids installment of our solar system poster series.