Cassini dives between Saturn and its rings

First in a sequence of dramatic manoeuvres that will end with the spacecraft burning up in the planet's atmosphere

Nasa's Cassini spacecraft has plunged between Saturn and its rings. This is the first pass in a sequence of 22 weekly dives that will result in the destruction of the spacecraft on 15 September.

The mission has been orbiting Saturn since 2004, studying the planet, its rings and moons in unprecedented detail. Recently, it discovered that the ocean inside the moon Enceladus has the conditions necessary for life.