On 26 April, NASA's Cassini spacecraft passed between Saturn and its rings for the first time. It is repeating the maneuver again today and will do so a total of 22 times before the spacecraft's planned end-of-life entrance into Saturn's atmosphere in September. The close orbits are designed to provide clearer readings of Saturn's internal structure. They also allow scientists to attempt to measure the weight of the rings, which could reveal whether they are as old as the planet itself or the product of a more recent event.
Read the story:http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-39779718
Photo:
A raw image taken by Cassini as it turned to make Tuesday's second gap plunge
Credits: NASA/JPL-CALTECH/SSI
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