Cassini will meet Titan today for the last time and then will move on its final journey to Saturn

Today, NASA’s Cassini spacecraft will pass Saturn’s icy moon Titan for the last time and then will move on its final journey to Saturn.

Cassini was launched in 1997, and since reaching Saturn in 2004, it has been completing circles around the Saturn. For the past 13 years, it has collected and sent huge amount of data to help scientists have a better understanding of Saturn and its moons.

“That last kiss goodbye,” says project manager Earl Maize about Cassini’s last meeting with Titan.

On April 22, NASA scientists will give commands to Cassini to change its course. There will be no turning back once it flies past Titan, and embark on a new path around Saturn.

“What a spectacular end to a spectacular mission,” said Jim Green, NASA’s planetary science division director.

“I feel a little sad in many ways that Cassini’s discoveries will end. But I’m also quite optimistic that we’re going to discover some new and really exciting science as we probe the region we’ve never probed before.”

On April 22, Cassini’s journey towards the 1,200-mile-wide gap between Saturn’s atmosphere and its rings will start. Cassini’s new trip will help scientists know more about Saturn’s rings, their formation and their age.

“Imagine the pictures we’re going to get back of Saturn’s rings,” said project scientist Linda Spilker.

“But the best is still yet to come — perhaps,” Maize said at a news conference in early April. “But we are certainly going to provide more excitement.”

“The emotional response runs full spectrum,” Earl Maize told The Verge. “You come in and look at the images we’re doing and the excitement of the science coming up. It’s a great sense of pride, but then after that it’s going to be over.”

Cassini will pass through twenty-two crossings until September 15, and during this journey the spacecraft could face either BB-size material or lightweight impacts from tiny particles, like smoke. The spacecraft will however reach Saturn on September 15 before being vaporized in its atmosphere and destroyed finally.