Cassini probe orbiting Saturn, illustration. The joint NASA-ESA Cassini-Huygens spacecraft was launched from Earth in 1997. It consists of two components the Cassini orbiter attached to the Huygens probe. Huygens separated from Cassini on 25th December 2004, and descended to the surface of Saturn's largest moon, Titan, in early 2005. Cassini spent the next 13 years surveying the Saturnian system (planet, moons and rings). It returned many images and observations, making many new discoveries. Its mission ended with a final dive to destruction in Saturn's atmosphere on 15th September 2017.