Cassini program manager at JPL, Earl Maize, left, and spacecraft operations team manager for the Cassini mission at Saturn, Julie Webster embrace after the Cassini spacecraft plunged into Saturn, Friday, Sept. 15, 2017 at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. via NASA http://ift.tt/2foCj37

Orion’s three main orange and white parachutes help a representative model of the spacecraft descend through sky above Arizona, where NASA engineers tested the parachute system on Sept. 13, 2017, at the U.S. Army Proving Ground in Yuma. NASA is qualifying Orion’s parachutes for missions with astronauts. via NASA http://ift.tt/2xBoGYR

NASA’s Cassini spacecraft gazed toward the northern hemisphere of Saturn to spy subtle, multi-hued bands in the clouds there. via NASA http://ift.tt/2jppZUF

The Soyuz MS-06 spacecraft launches with Expedition 53 crewmembers Joe Acaba of NASA, Alexander Misurkin of Roscosmos, and Mark Vande Hei of NASA from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2017, (Kazakh time) (Sept. 12, U.S. time). via NASA http://ift.tt/2wYcZs9

Expedition 53 flight engineer Mark Vande Hei of NASA, top, flight engineer Joe Acaba of NASA, and Soyuz Commander Alexander Misurkin of Roscosmos, bottom, wave farewell before boarding their Soyuz MS-06 spacecraft for launch, Tuesday, Sept. 12. Launch is scheduled at 5:17 p.m. EDT. via NASA http://ift.tt/2xizkTr

With this view, Cassini captured one of its last looks at Saturn and its main rings from a distance. via NASA http://ift.tt/2eQeBMc

The NOAA-NASA satellite GOES-16 captured this geocolor image of Hurricane Irma passing the eastern end of Cuba at about 8:00 a.m. EDT, Sept. 8, 2017. Created by NOAA’s partners at the Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere, the experimental imagery enhancement displays geostationary satellite data in different ways for day or night. via NASA http://ift.tt/2wf8UxT

This view from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft shows a wave structure in Saturn’s rings known as the Janus 2:1 spiral density wave. via NASA http://ift.tt/2gKui8n

The combination of morphological and topographic information from stereo images from NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. via NASA http://ift.tt/2xOVHxu

Expedition 53 crew members: Joe Acaba of NASA, left, Alexander Misurkin of Roscosmos, center, and Mark Vande Hei of NASA answer questions from the press outside the Soyuz simulator ahead of their Soyuz qualification exams, Thursday, Aug. 31, 2017 at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center (GCTC) in Star City, Russia. via NASA http://ift.tt/2wHF3zZ