The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has released new images of Saturn's moon, Dione, taken by the agency's Cassini-Huygens spacecraft.
Cassini captured the images around 321 miles away from Dione's surface, and the snapshots showed the heavily cratered terrain of the moon.
NASA's Saturn spacecraft is expected to make another pass close to Saturn's moon in August. This time Cassini will try to get 295 miles closer to Dione's surface.
According to NASA, this recent encounter marks the second time Cassini came close to Dione after it was able to pass within 60 miles of moon in December of 2011.
The Cassini space mission was launched back in October 15, 1997 and it entered Saturn's orbit in July 1, 2004.
The spacecraft's primary objectives include analyzing the structure and dynamic behavior of Saturn's rings, the composition of its satellite surfaces and the geological history of each object that orbits the planet.
Cassini is also tasked with discovering the origin and nature of the dark material that scientists believe exists on the atmosphere of Saturn's moon, Iapetus.
NASA's spacecraft is currently surveying Dione, one of the planet's smaller natural satellites. It measures at around 698 miles in diameter, and it takes 2.7 days to complete an orbit around Saturn.
The images sent back from the Cassini space probe shows an alien world highlighted by a dramatic landscape. The surface of the moon is filled with various fractured areas and craters, similar to the Earth's own moon.
Researchers at the space agency estimate that Cassini will complete its mission around Saturn by September 15, 2017, when the spacecraft is predicted to run out of fuel and enter the planet's atmosphere.
Last week, NASA unveiled the latest images of the dwarf planet Pluto that were recorded using the New Horizon spacecraft's Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI).
The LORRI photographs were captured between May 29 and June 2 as the spacecraft approached the distant system. They are now considered to be the best view of the dwarf planet ever to be documented.
NASA scientists have used deconvolved images from the New Horizons together with those taken using the Hubble Space Telescope to clearly identify several nuanced and complicated markings they have observed on the surface of Pluto.
