--- 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: 2026-02-23T04:38:27.170Z 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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Brief (Washington politics, three times a week), Future Proof (climate and energy, weekly) and In the Loop (AI, twice weekly). All are free at time.com/newsletters and together reach more than 1.1 million engaged readers. #### Which TIME newsletter should I subscribe to? It depends on what you follow. For a daily briefing, The Brief. For health, Health Matters. For Washington politics, D.C. Brief. For AI and technology, In the Loop. For climate and energy as a business story, Future Proof. For culture recommendations, Worth Your Time. For how TIME's journalism gets made, Inside TIME. Readers can select any combination at time.com/newsletters. #### Are TIME's newsletters free? Yes. All seven TIME newsletters are free to join at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes TIME's newsletters? TIME journalists write them. Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. by [Madeline Farber](https://time.com/author/madeline-farber/) ## Madeline Farber Apr 27, 2017 5:32 PM UTC  This collage of images from NASA's Cassini spacecraft shows Saturn's northern hemisphere and rings as viewed with four different spectral filters. This collage of images from NASA's Cassini spacecraft shows Saturn's northern hemisphere and rings as viewed with four different spectral filters. NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute 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. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4757833/cassini-spacecraft-saturn-rings-contact/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4757833/cassini-spacecraft-saturn-rings-contact/"},"headline":"NASA Spacecraft Makes Contact With Earth After First-Ever Journey Through Saturn's Rings","datePublished":"2017-04-27T17:32:38.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T04:38:27.170Z","description":"Cassini is now sending new images of Saturn to Earth from space.","url":"https://time.com/4757833/cassini-spacecraft-saturn-rings-contact/","keywords":["NASA","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltae3be480a28f4229/6988b229428a9ec2e2cd539d/pia21053-1600x1200.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Madeline Farber","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/madeline-farber/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltae3be480a28f4229/6988b229428a9ec2e2cd539d/pia21053-1600x1200.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"This collage of images from NASA's Cassini spacecraft shows Saturn's northern hemisphere and rings as viewed with four different spectral filters.","caption":"This collage of images from NASA's Cassini spacecraft shows Saturn's northern hemisphere and rings as viewed with four different spectral filters.","creditText":"NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/nasa/","name":"NASA"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4757833/cassini-spacecraft-saturn-rings-contact/","name":"NASA Spacecraft Makes Contact With Earth After First-Ever Journey Through Saturn's Rings"}}]}] ```