Images from Cassini's final targeted flyby of Saturn's Moon Rhea

Carolyn Porco, who is the Cassini Imaging Team Leader and Director of CICLOPS in Boulder, CO, writes:

Cassini's very last targeted flyby of Saturn's moon, Rhea, occurred this past weekend, and images from that event are now on the ground and available for your discerning examination. Take a good, long, luxurious look at these sights from another world, as they will be the last close-ups you'll ever see of this particular moon.
Our mission at Saturn has been ongoing for nearly 9 years and is slated to continue for another 4. Targeted flybys of the moons Dione, in June and August of 2015, and Enceladus, in October and December of 2015, are all that remains on the docket for detailed exploration of Saturn's medium-sized moons.
We're nearing the end of this historic expedition. Let's enjoy the finale while we can.

About the image in this post:

This raw, unprocessed image of Rhea was taken on March 9, 2013 and received on Earth March 10, 2013. The camera was pointing toward Rhea at approximately 62880 kilometers away, and the image was taken using the CL1 and CL2 filters. The image has not been validated or calibrated. A validated/calibrated image will be archived with the Planetary Data System in 2014.
The Cassini Solstice Mission is a joint United States and European endeavor. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter was designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging team consists of scientists from the US, England, France, and Germany. The imaging operations center and team lead (Dr. C. Porco) are based at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo.

Boing Boing editor/partner and tech culture journalist Xeni Jardin hosts and produces Boing Boing's in-flight TV channel on Virgin America airlines (#10 on the dial), and writes about living with breast cancer. Diagnosed in 2011. @xeni on Twitter. email: xeni@boingboing.net.

MORE: astronomy • cassini • ciclops • Saturn • Science

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http://www.facebook.com/dwight.friesen Dwight David Friesen

Good night, moon.
Brainspore

Nice pics. I wonder if they’re planning to look into this:
- http://www.facebook.com/cinemattographer Matt Jacobson
  
  “Only with the heart – and a deep space probe- can one see rightly. What is essential is invisible to the eye of the Earthbound observer.”
https://launchpad.net/~zak-mckracken Zak McKracken

Why would this be the last we _ever_ see of this moon? Is the next reasonable launch window so far away?
- Brainspore
  
  No, it’s just that Cassini also spotted a huge asteroid heading our way that would make such undertakings futile.