After twenty years of orbiting Saturn, NASA’s Cassini probe mission has ended. The Cassini probe was launched on October 15, 1997, and reached Saturn’s orbit by July 1, 2004. The probe was as big as a school bus. The probe was orbiting Saturn and it had to ramp up the thrusters to keep its antenna dish pointed towards Earth to send data. Because the thrusters weren't designed to keep a spacecraft upright while diving into Saturn at 78,000 mph, the connection with the probes and Earth didn't last long. Cassini began to fall towards Saturn, breaking its last bond with Earth around 9:55 pm. When the probe entered Saturns atmosphere it heated up to hundreds and then thousands of degrees and it broke apart, disintegrated, and vaporized into a small,
