Cassini Researchers Say Spacecraft's Saturn Death Finale Is Bittersweet

After decades of planning and analysis, NASA’s Cassini mission is nearing its end. The spacecraft itself has been traveling space for nearly 20 years, the first seven of which were spent in transit to Saturn and the final 13 spent in orbit around the gas giant.

Next week the mission will come to an end when Cassini plunges into the planet’s thick atmosphere and sends back data until it burns up like a shooting star would in Earth’s atmosphere. For those who have been with the craft since its earliest stages, the end is bittersweet.