--- title: Cassini Probe's Last Picture of Saturn description: Saturn’s moons Prometheus, Pandora, Janus, Epimetheus, Mimas and Enceladus are all visible in the otherworldly photo canonical: https://time.com/5039135/saturn-last-image-cassini-probe/ author: Billy Perrigo article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-11-28T16:41:34.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T18:22:07.088Z article:section: Science og:title: This is Cassini's Last Picture of Saturn og:description: The image was taken just before the probe plunged to its dooom og:url: https://time.com/5039135/saturn-last-image-cassini-probe/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltaf5957305331fd58/6988e712656a3f5535bd2956/cassini.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1280 og:image:height: 720 og:image:alt: Cassini og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: This is Cassini's Last Picture of Saturn twitter:description: The image was taken just before the probe plunged to its dooom twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltaf5957305331fd58/6988e712656a3f5535bd2956/cassini.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # This is the Cassini Probe's Last Picture of Saturn Before It Plunged to Its Doom > Sponsored content. 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Future Proof is free at time.com/newsletters.  by [Billy Perrigo](https://time.com/author/billy-perrigo/)  ## Billy Perrigo Correspondent Nov 28, 2017 4:41 PM UTC  The last image of Saturn released by NASA from the Cassini probe, before it plunged into Saturn's atmosphere The last image of Saturn released by NASA from the Cassini probe, before it plunged into Saturn's atmosphere NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute  by [Billy Perrigo](https://time.com/author/billy-perrigo/)  ## Billy Perrigo Correspondent Nov 28, 2017 4:41 PM UTC NASA has released one final image of Saturn, taken before the [Cassini](https://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/) probe plummeted into the planet’s atmosphere, concluding a 20-year mission. The probe actually crashed into Saturn last month, but the [final image](https://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/news/3131/cassini-image-mosaic-a-farewell-to-saturn/) — a mosaic — was released last Tuesday. Saturn’s moons Prometheus, Pandora, Janus, Epimetheus, Mimas and Enceladus are all visible in the otherworldly photo. > [](https://twitter.com/CassiniSaturn/status/933040659497238528) “Cassini’s scientific bounty has been truly spectacular,” said Robert West, Cassini’s deputy imaging team leader. “A vast array of new results leading to new insights and surprises, from the tiniest of ring particles to the opening of new landscapes on Titan and Enceladus, to the deep interior of Saturn itself.” Cassini’s last mission was to pass through the space between Saturn and its rings, which no spacecraft had ever done before. The probe was transmitting data right up until it entered the atmosphere. The decision to send Cassini toward the planet was a final act taken to ensure the probe didn’t accidentally contaminate one of Saturn’s moons, which NASA scientists think could have the potential for life. > [](https://twitter.com/CassiniSaturn/status/934477261717233664) Launched in 1997, it took Cassini seven years to reach Saturn and it orbited the planet for 13 years. The probe cost $3.26 billion, and was the product of a cooperative effort between NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5039135/saturn-last-image-cassini-probe/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5039135/saturn-last-image-cassini-probe/"},"headline":"This is the Cassini Probe's Last Picture of Saturn Before It Plunged to Its Doom","datePublished":"2017-11-28T16:41:34.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T18:22:07.088Z","description":"Saturn’s moons Prometheus, Pandora, Janus, Epimetheus, Mimas and Enceladus are all visible in the otherworldly photo","url":"https://time.com/5039135/saturn-last-image-cassini-probe/","keywords":["Space","NASA","cassini","saturn"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltaf5957305331fd58/6988e712656a3f5535bd2956/cassini.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Billy Perrigo","jobTitle":"Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/billy-perrigo/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltaf5957305331fd58/6988e712656a3f5535bd2956/cassini.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Cassini","caption":"Cassini","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/space/","name":"Space"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5039135/saturn-last-image-cassini-probe/","name":"This is the Cassini Probe's Last Picture of Saturn Before It Plunged to Its Doom"}}]}] ```