WASHINGTON, Aug. 26 (UPI) -- NASA's Cassini spacecraft has captured new views of Saturn's oddly shaped moon Hyperion during an encounter with the cratered body, the space agency said.
The images were acquired Thursday as the spacecraft flew past the moon at a distance of about 15,500 miles, making this the second closest encounter of Cassini with the small moon, NASA said.
Cassini's closest approach to Hyperion was on Sept. 26, 2005, when the spacecraft flew approximately 310 miles above the moon's surface.
Hyperion is small, just 168 miles across, has an irregular shape and surface appearance, and rotates chaotically as it tumbles along in orbit, astronomers said.
The new images will help provide insight into the texture of the moon, they said, and will yield additional information about different materials on the moon's deeply pitted surface.
