As it observes Saturn, NASA's Cassini spacecraft is touring the planet's moons, most recently capturing stunning images of Dione.
According to the Washington Post, Cassini delivered new images of the moon earlier this week. The most heavily featured image of Dione shows the moon's crest at an astonishingly close 321 miles away and Saturn's rings can be seen in the background as well.
NASA plans to send Cassini even closer to Dione in August, planning a flyby that will take the spacecraft as close as 295 miles. From such a close distance, it would be hard to tell Dione apart from Earth's moon, as they both appear plain and gray with crater marks covering its surface.
"The rugged landscape of Saturn's fracture-faced moon Dione is revealed in images sent back by NASA's Cassini spacecraft from its latest flyby. Cassini buzzed past Dione on June 16, coming within 321 miles (516 kilometers) of the moon's surface," NASA said in a statement. "On Aug. 17, the spacecraft will make its final flyby of Dione, diving to within 295 miles (474 kilometers) of the surface. The final Dione encounter will be Cassini's second-closest brush with the icy moon. A December 2011 flyby saw the spacecraft reach an altitude of just 60 miles (100 kilometers) above Dione."
Cassini flew by Saturn in 2004, about seven years after its launch, and it will likely run out of fuel in Sept. 2017.
