Cassini's Grand Finale at Saturn. Illustration of a view of the upper atmosphere of Saturn from the Cassini spacecraft (partially seen at lower right) as it passes increasingly close to Saturn at the end of its mission. The Cassini spacecraft has been surveying the Saturnian system since 2004, with its mission scheduled to end with a final dive to destruction into Saturn's atmosphere on 15 September 2017. These 22 polar orbits and dives, and the final de-orbiting, are the concluding phase ('Grand Finale') of its mission. Image published in April 2017.