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NASA’s Cassini Passes Between Saturn and Planet’s Rings, Sends Back Images

This unprocessed image shows features in Saturn’s atmosphere from closer than ever before. The view was captured by NASA’s Cassini spacecraft during its first “grand finale” dive past the planet on April 26, 2017. (Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute)

Great news for Cassini fans: The NASA spacecraft sent word that it successfully completed its first pass through the uncharted territory between Saturn and its rings late Wednesday.

Hopefully the next 21 orbits through this never-before-explored space will be just as successful.

More than 100 members of the Cassini team and their families gathered in the Von Karman Auditorium at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in La Cañada Flintridge to await the news.

The first signal, indicating that the spacecraft was alive, came right on time at 11:55 p.m Pacific, to cheers and fist pumps.

Read the full story on LATimes.com.