25 Years Ago the Cassini Spacecraft Set Off on a Journey to Saturn in October 1997

Animation of Saturn overlaid with false colour representation of the ultraviolet aurora in the northern hemisphere as observed in 2008. Courtesy of NASA/JPL-CALTECH via AP/Screenshot via The Epoch Times

Launched a quarter of a century ago on 15 October 1997, the Cassini spacecraft spent 13 years exploring Saturn.

The only spacecraft to ever orbit Saturn, Cassini showed scientists the planet, its rings, and moons up close in all their splendour.