At a distance of about 116,000km (62,700nm) from Saturn's rings, the US-European space probe Cassini-Huygens took this photo of the ring system on 1 July after it went into orbit. Launched in 1997, it arrived in orbit on 30 June to begin a four-year study of the planet and its 31 moons. In December the European-built cone-shaped Huygens probe will be ejected from the Cassini spacecraft and after 22 days will reach the moon Titan, descending into its cloudy atmosphere to land using parachutes.
Source: Flight International
