Even as Nasa’s Cassini probe hurtled towards its final, fiery destruction in the atmosphere above Saturn, controllers back on Earth were hoping it would reveal one final secret.
The 20-year mission to investigate the ringed planet and its moons had been hailed as one of the dazzling successes of space exploration, yet it had so far failed to solve one of 
Saturn’s most intriguing riddles: why the northern hemisphere has a shorter day than the southern.
Saturn’s most intriguing riddles: why the northern hemisphere has a shorter day than the southern.
Scientists believe the answer lies in the mosaic of magnetic fields near the planet’s surface.
The only way to pass through them, however, was as part of a suicide dive.
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