It has been a magical 20-year run for NASA's Cassini spacecraft, but nine months from now, the mission will end with a violent crash into the surface of Saturn.

In its remaining time, Cassini has more work to do. As it slowly falls toward the sixth planet from the sun, it will get a never-before-seen look at Saturn's rings, and during the mission that's been named the Grand Finale, Cassini will also get to study moons Enceladus and Titan multiple times, according to CNET.

On Sept. 15, 2017, the mission will end with the spacecraft plummeting into Saturn's atmosphere – something never done before, according to Vox. Until the moment it breaks apart and burns up, Cassini will continue to send back last-minute data that will hopefully teach scientists more about Saturn than they ever knew.

"We’re going out in a blaze of glory," Preston Dyches, a NASA spokesperson for the Cassini mission, told Vox.

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The reason for the suicide mission, Vox also reported, is because Cassini has run out of gas. After two decades of studying space – 16 years longer than it was originally scheduled to run – Cassini's service to NASA will soon no longer be possible.

Cassini's list of accomplishments is vast. From discovering seven more Saturn moons to capturing iconic close-up images of Saturn and Jupiter, Cassini gave everything it had to science for two decades, undoubtedly etching itself into the history books as one of the most important space explorers yet. Now, in its final nine months, scientists will eagerly await the discoveries Cassini makes during its curtain call.

"Technologically, it's the most daring and elaborate orbital tour of a planetary system yet executed, with vastly more flybys of planetary bodies, and the closest ever conducted, than any other mission we've ever flown," Dr. Carolyn Porco, who leads the Cassini Imaging Team, told Sen in a July 2012 interview. "In fact, it may very well be that Cassini has conducted more close flyby maneuvers – over 100 – than have ever been conducted in the entire planetary program."

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