Earth, photographed from 1. 4 billion kilometers / 870 million miles away. Photo: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute NASA's Cassini spacecraft will soon meet its demise in Saturn's atmosphere, but one of its last photos of Earth is making for a heck of a swan song.
The image, dated April 12, 2017, shows Earth as a bright white dot framed by the planet's rings. For comparison, it's about the same size as your standard speck of dust. Our entire planet.
Cassini has been orbiting Saturn since 2004 and has spent the last decade and then some beaming back information about the ringed planet and its moons. But all good things must come to an end, and as the spacecraft's fuel supply runs low, NASA will begin the process of safely putting it out to pasture.
. dpreview.com2017-4-22 12:00