Planetary missions are expensive to start with and risky to execute at every point thereafter. So it’s no wonder mission planners seek to minimize danger. For 12 years NASA’s robotic explorer to Saturn called Cassini has been studying the solar system’s most famous celebrity along with its many moons and flashy golden rings. But it will soon dive into the planet’s turbulent atmosphere and disappear forever. Which means it can now take much greater risks. First up is a pass so close to the rings that some of the millions of members making them up may be visible:
Grazing the edges of the rings also will provide some of the closest-ever studies of the outer portions of Saturn's main rings (the A, B and F rings). Some of Cassini's views will have a level of detail not seen since the spacecraft glided just above them during its arrival in 2004. The mission will begin imaging the rings in December along their entire width, resolving details smaller than 0.6 mile (1 kilometer) per pixel and building up Cassini's highest-quality complete scan of the rings' intricate structure. ...
During its grand finale, Cassini will pass as close as 1,012 miles (1,628 kilometers) above the clouds as it dives repeatedly through the narrow gap between Saturn and its rings, before making its mission-ending plunge into the planet’s atmosphere ...
We’ve never seen a gas giant’s cloud tops from a mere thousand miles away! Given Cassini’s sharp camera eyes, we’ll see complex storms and mysterious eddies rendered in gold comparable to the detail that can be viewed of the Earth’s fluffy white formations from the International Space Station. Then, early next Fall, Cassini will dive right in. NASA hopes to capture images to the last kilobyte.
NASA is a great agency. It would be a shame if something happened to it.