NASA'S Cassini Spacecraft Gets Closer Look at One of Saturn's Moons

Dione is an icy moon with a heavily cratered terrain.

By
ALYSSA NEWCOMB
June 19, 2015, 3:41 PM ET
3 min read

— -- The pockmarked surface of Dione, one of Saturn's dozens of moons, looks a lot like our own moon.

NASA's Cassini spacecraft got a closer look at the heavily cratered terrain of Dione earlier this week, snapping a photo just 321 miles away from its surface. The spacecraft is set to make another close pass in August, coming with 295 miles of Dione.

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The latest encounter is Cassini's second with Dione. It passed within 60 miles of the moon in December 2011.

Cassini launched was launched in 1997 and arrived at the ringed planet in 2004. Since then, it has been whizzing around the area, exploring Saturn and its dozens of moons.

The spacecraft's jaunt around Saturn is expected to come to an end on Sept. 15, 2017, when NASA predicts it will run out of fuel and enter Saturn's atmosphere.