Saturn probe plunges to fiery finale

NASA's decades-long mission has collected more than 453,000 images

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida - NASA's Cassini spacecraft at Saturn completed its death plunge on Friday, following a remarkable journey of 20 years.

Cassini plunged through Saturn's atmosphere and vaporize like a meteor. Flight controllers at California's Jet Propulsion Laboratory had expected one last burst of scientific data from Cassini, before the radio waves go flat and the spacecraft falls silent.