"No spacecraft has ever been this close to Saturn before. We could only rely on predictions, based on our experience with Saturn's other rings, of what we thought this gap between the rings and Saturn would be like," said Cassini project manager Earl Maize of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. "I am delighted to report that Cassini shot through the gap just as we planned and has come out the other side in excellent shape." The gap between the rings and the top of Saturn's atmosphere is about 1,500 miles (2,400 kilometers) wide.
The rings are made of fast-moving particles of ice and space debris that could strike and disable the spacecraft.
Cassini zipped through at a speed of about 77,000 miles per hour relative to the planet.
The spacecraft will make a total of 22 dives between the rings and the planet before making a death plunge into the gas giant in September. Its next pass is scheduled for May 2.