Oxford reflects fondly on Cassini as the end draws near

A spacecraft that scientists from the University of Oxford played a key role in building, has come closer to the planet of Saturn than ever before. On Wednesday 26 April 2017,  Cassini became the first spacecraft to ever plunge between Saturn and its innermost rings. In doing so, it came closer to the planet than any probe before it. This historic manoeuvre marks the beginning of the end, for what has been a landmark space mission. Led by NASA's Goddard Space Fl ight Center , the probe was first launched over twenty years ago. Since leaving Earth it has informed a new age of science, enabling unparalleled understanding of Saturn's activity. Over the next five months the satellite will make a series of bold orbits around the planet (twenty-two in total), delivering valuable, high quality data.