NASA releases incredible closeup images of Saturn’s moon Dione

NASA has released a series of stunning images taken during the Cassini spacecraft’s last close flyby of Saturn’s moon Dione. The images show a pockmarked landscape looming below the spacecraft.  Cassini passed 295 miles above Dione’s surface at 2:33 p.m. ET on Aug. 17, its fifth close encounter with Saturn’s icy moon. The spacecraft, which has been exploring Saturn and its moons since 2004, made its closest-ever Dione flyby in Dec. 2011 when it passed within 60 miles of the moon’s surface. "I am moved, as I know everyone else is, looking at these exquisite images of Dione's surface and crescent, and knowing that they are the last we will see of this far-off world for a very long time to come," said Carolyn Porco, Cassini imaging team lead at the Space Science Institute, Boulder, Colorado, in a statement on the NASA website. "Right down to the last, Cassini has faithfully delivered another extraordinary set of riches. How lucky we have been." Only a handful of close flybys of Saturn's large, icy moons remain for the spacecraft, according to NASA. Cassini is scheduled to make three approaches to the geologically active moon Enceladus on Oct. 14 and 28, and Dec. 19, passing just 30 miles from its surface on Oct. 28. “Cassini will make its deepest-ever dive through the moon's plume of icy spray at this time, collecting valuable data about what's going on beneath the surface,” explained NASA.   Fox