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takyon [soylentnews.org] writes:

The Cassini spacecraft [wikipedia.org] will make the first of a series of dives in between Saturn and its rings [nasa.gov] on April 26th, following a final flyby of Atlas [wikipedia.org]¹ on April 12th and Titan [wikipedia.org] on April 22nd:

NASA's Cassini spacecraft, in orbit around Saturn since 2004, is about to begin the final chapter of its remarkable story. On Wednesday, April 26, the spacecraft will make the first in a series of dives through the 1,500-mile-wide (2,400-kilometer) gap between Saturn and its rings as part of the mission's grand finale.

"No spacecraft has ever gone through the unique region that we'll attempt to boldly cross 22 times," said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "What we learn from Cassini's daring final orbits will further our understanding of how giant planets, and planetary systems everywhere, form and evolve. This is truly discovery in action to the very end."

Cassini will plunge into Saturn's atmosphere on September 15th.

April 26th also seems to be the planned airdate [wikipedia.org] for a NOVA special about the legacy and end of the Cassini–Huygens mission.

[1] Cassini flew as close as 32,000 km [nasa.gov] to Atlas in 2015, capturing imagery with a resolution of 190 meters per pixel. Cassini will fly by Atlas at an altitude of 14,800 km this month.

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