CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (Reuters) - NASA's Cassini spacecraft sent the closest-ever images of Saturn on Thursday after surviving its first plunge inside the planet's rings, the U.S. space agency said. Now in its final laps around Saturn, Cassini dove through the narrow gap between the planet and its innermost ring on Wednesday, where no spacecraft has ever gone before. It was the first of 22 planned close encounters to bring the robotic probe into unexplored territory between Saturn's cloud tops and its rings. The gap between Saturn and the rings is about 1,500 miles (2,400 km) wide and likely littered with ice particles. During its first pass inside the rings, Cassini came within about 1,900 miles (3,000 km) from the top of Saturn's clouds and within 200 miles (300 km) of its innermost ring.

Source: The Star April 27, 2017 21:00 UTC