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What NASA Found Beyond The Rings Of Saturn (omaha.com)
NASA's Cassini spacecraft explored the inner edge of the rings of Saturn for the first time, and Phys.org reports that it made a surprising discovery: nothing. "Scientists have been surprised to find that not all that much -- not even space dust -- lies between Saturn's iconic rings." After the first pass, the NASA official managing the project described the the region between the rings and Saturn as "the big empty." An anonymous reader quotes the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:
Cassini also beamed back pictures and other essential data as it maneuvered the 1,500-mile-wide space between the solar system's second largest planet and its icy rings. The images, which take 78 minutes to make the billion-mile trip back to Earth, reveal a blazing, mysterious process of alternating light and darkness in the rings that scientists will be working for years to understand. That seems only fair since it has already taken 20 years for Cassini to be in a position to do what it is doing so far.
Between now and September, Cassini will make 22 dives between Saturn's rings and the planet, clocking at an impressive 76,800 mph each time. The end result should be a treasure trove of stunning images of the planet and its diverse and mysterious rings, along with detailed maps of the gas giant's gravity, magnetic fields and atmospheric conditions. On Sept. 15, it will plunge into Saturn's atmosphere, streaming data back to Earth as it makes its descent of no return.
Between now and September, Cassini will make 22 dives between Saturn's rings and the planet, clocking at an impressive 76,800 mph each time. The end result should be a treasure trove of stunning images of the planet and its diverse and mysterious rings, along with detailed maps of the gas giant's gravity, magnetic fields and atmospheric conditions. On Sept. 15, it will plunge into Saturn's atmosphere, streaming data back to Earth as it makes its descent of no return.
Cassini did not find any material beneath the rings of Saturn - that is, between the lowest ring, the D ring, and the atmosphere of Saturn. I don't know why headline writers have been getting this so consistently wrong.
They were very worried about dust and ice fragments between the rings and Saturn itself before they went inside the rings*, which is why they used the Cassini radio antenna as a shield during the first two ring plane passages. Now that they have found that there is not much dust there, they won't have to do that**, which will free the spacecraft to take better pictures and collect better data.
As for the rest, Cassini entered orbit around Saturn on July 1, 2004. If it hasn't been struck so far, it will probably be OK for the rest of the mission.
* There was talk about doing this with Pioneer 11 in 1979, but in the end it was viewed as too dangerous.
** There will be 4 passes near the D ring for which the antenna will be used as a shield again.