The Cassini spacecraft is in splendid shape as it circles Saturn. Conceived in the 1980s and launched in 1997, Cassini arrived at the gas-giant planet in 2004 and has continued to deliver stunning images of the jewel of the solar system.
The unmanned probe scored a major discovery in 2005 when it found geysers erupting on the moon Enceladus from what appears to be a subsurface sea that scientists believe could harbor some form of exotic life.
Cassini also mapped the surface of the huge moon Titan, which has a dense atmosphere, plus lakes and rivers on its surface, though there is no water in them — the liquid is made of hydrocarbons such as methane and ethane, as if the place had been designed by the oil and gas industry.
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