Cassini grand finale

Illustration of Cassini diving between Saturn and its innermost rings as part of the mission's Grand Finale. The spacecraft will perform a series of 22 daring orbits passing through the yet unexplored region between the planet and its rings and collecting unprecedented data.

Eventually Cassini will plunge and burn up into Saturn’s atmosphere on 15 September 2017, satisfying planetary protection requirements to avoid possible contamination of any moons of Saturn that could have conditions suitable for life.