Cassini final year

The Cassini spacecraft is preparing to say goodbye to the ring giant, it has entered its final year of operations, on November 30, NASA’s Cassini mission started a daring set of ring-grazing orbits, skimming past the outside edge of Saturn's main rings. Cassini will fly closer to Saturn’s rings than it has since its arrival back in 2004.

It will begin the closest study of the rings and offer unprecedented views of moons that orbit near them. Even more dramatic orbits ahead will bring Cassini closer to Saturn than any spacecraft has dared to go before, back on November 29 it accomplished Cassini's Penultimate Flyby of Titan.

That was Titan Flyby T-125, which has two primary goals: Mapmaking of Titan’s surface, and changing Cassini’s orbit to begin what is perhaps the boldest and most thrilling segment of Cassini’s nearly 20-year mission, surely the beginning a productive year on Saturn and an emotional one as well.