On 15 September 2017, NASA engineers deliberately steered the Cassini spacecraft into Saturn's atmosphere at 70,000 miles per hour, not because the mission had failed but because they were terrified of where it might fall if they left it in orbit. (opens in new tab)

On 15 September 2017, Cassini stopped talking. The spacecraft had spent its final minutes plunging into Saturn’s upper atmosphere at roughly 70,000 miles per hour, firing its thrusters at full strength to keep its antenna pointed at Earth while the gas giant tore it apart. The engineers who built it, and the team who flew […]