--- title: NASA's Cassini Spacecraft Back in Contact with Earth description: NASA's Cassini spacecraft is now back in contact with Earth after flying through Saturn's rings. Cassini is sending new images of Saturn canonical: https://time.com/4757833/cassini-spacecraft-saturn-rings-contact/ author: Madeline Farber article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-04-27T17:32:38.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-08T08:47:50.133Z article:section: Science og:title: NASA's Cassini Spacecraft Is Back in Contact With Earth og:description: Cassini is now sending new images of Saturn to Earth from space og:url: https://time.com/4757833/cassini-spacecraft-saturn-rings-contact/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltae3be480a28f4229/6988b229428a9ec2e2cd539d/pia21053-1600x1200.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1600 og:image:height: 900 og:image:alt: This collage of images from NASA's Cassini spacecraft shows Saturn's northern hemisphere and rings as viewed with four different spectral filters. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: NASA's Cassini Spacecraft Is Back in Contact With Earth twitter:description: Cassini is now sending new images of Saturn to Earth from space twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltae3be480a28f4229/6988b229428a9ec2e2cd539d/pia21053-1600x1200.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # NASA Spacecraft Makes Contact With Earth After First-Ever Journey Through Saturn's Rings > Sponsored content. 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Future Proof is TIME's weekly climate and energy newsletter, written by senior correspondent Justin Worland. It connects the energy transition to the decisions reshaping business, technology, policy and markets. #### Where can I follow the energy transition as a business story? Future Proof covers climate and energy as an economic and business story rather than only an environmental one. It publishes every Friday and is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who writes Future Proof? Justin Worland, a senior correspondent at TIME and an award-winning climate journalist, writes Future Proof. #### Is Future Proof free? Yes. Future Proof is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-futureproof-2026q3/newsletters?i=48dccf04-7291-41f1-872a-fa4ab07e1a85&cr=time-nl-futureproof-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Elisabeth Moss and Margaret Atwood on the Urgency of The Handmaid's Tale [Watch (HLS stream): Elisabeth Moss and Margaret Atwood on the Urgency of The Handmaid's Tale](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/KQNiWmZW.m3u8) (2:39)  _Published 2017-08-31. The Handmaid's Tale book landed back on bestseller lists and the TV show has been called 'prescient' by critics and fans in 2017._ by [Madeline Farber](https://time.com/author/madeline-farber/) ## Madeline Farber Apr 27, 2017 5:32 PM UTC The Handmaid's Tale book landed back on bestseller lists and the TV show has been called 'prescient' by critics and fans in 2017. by [Madeline Farber](https://time.com/author/madeline-farber/) ## Madeline Farber Apr 27, 2017 5:32 PM UTC The [Cassini spacecraft](http://time.com/4755948/nasa-cassini-saturn-rings/), which recently made the first journey through the narrow gap between Saturn and its rings, is back in contact with Earth. But the trip was dangerous: During its ring-plane crossing, the spaceship had to use its large, dish-shaped antenna as a shield, losing contact with Earth during that time, according to [NASA.](https://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/news/3032/nasa-spacecraft-dives-between-saturn-and-its-rings/) “No spacecraft has ever been this close to [Saturn](http://time.com/4755236/google-doodle-cassini-spacecraft-saturn-rings/) before. We could only rely on predictions, based on our experience with Saturn’s other rings, of what we thought this gap between the rings and Saturn would be like,” Cassini Project Manager Earl Maize said Thursday, according to NASA. “I am delighted to report that Cassini shot through the gap just as we planned and has come out the other side in excellent shape.” Now safely back in contact, Cassini is sending new images of Saturn to Earth from space. NASA has since shared some of the [raw photos](https://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/galleries/raw-images/) with the public. The trip took a little over an hour to complete. ## Transcript [00:00] [ BLANK_AUDIO ] [00:06] [ MUSIC ] [00:12] I'm curious what you think Ultimately the book is about [00:15] for you? I think it's about a totalitarian society in [00:19] America the way it would likely be. [ LAUGH ] Yeah, [00:24] that's pretty good. Except maybe without the output. [00:28] [ MUSIC ] [00:31] A lot of the work that I do Tends to be these sort of [00:34] strong, complicated women. And I often get [00:38] asked by interviewers, do you gravitate towards quote, [00:42] unquote, feminist roles? Which is a question I sort of [00:46] almost struggle to answer. Feminism, when [00:51] we use that word, I always like to know What do you [00:55] mean by it? What are we talking about? Yes. So if the [00:58] person can describe what they mean by the word, [01:01] because there are this many different meanings, than [01:04] we can talk about whether I am one of those or not. I'm [01:06] gonna use that actually because I find myself [01:08] sometimes getting slightly tripped up because I am a [01:12] feminist. Because you don't know what they mean as in [01:12] so far as- Yeah, and I am ashamed of it. Insofar as [01:16] I believe in human rights- And women are human. And [01:18] women are human, but that's not the only thing about [01:22] it. That's not why I love it, [01:26] that's not why I did it, so I'm like, well, yes and no, [01:28] really. You girls will serve the leaders and [01:33] their barren wives You will bear children for them. [01:37] You told me everything in the Handmaid's Tale had [01:41] happened. Somewhere at some time. I made nothing [01:46] up. Now in our time where our climate [01:51] is what it is in America and in the world Do you still [01:55] feel the same about that statement? Or do you feel any [01:58] different? Even more so. Even more so, yeah. Even [01:59] more so, absolutely. Yeah. So when I first published [02:03] that book, at the outset, some people were saying how [02:07] could you suggest that we would ever do such a thing? [02:11] That this would ever happen, right. Yeah, so I don't [02:12] hear that much anymore either. [ MUSIC ] [02:19] Do you feel like there is one thing that the average [02:21] women or average person can do to [02:25] sort of prevent- Well, they might vote, just to begin [02:30] with. That would help, wouldn't it? Voting helps. [02:33] [ LAUGH ] Yeah. 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