NASA's Cassini Hopes for a Rare Glimpse of Saturn Moon Hyperion

NASA hopes to catch a never-before-seen glimpse of Saturn's moon Hyperion when its spacecraft Cassini makes a close fly-by on Sunday.

Cassini is expected to fly within 21,000 miles of the moon which is known for its extremely low density, spongy surface and irregular shape. During most previous encounters with the unusually satellite, Cassini often saw the same side. Though they hope to see another face of the moon this time around, the team at JPL cannot count on it as Hyperion is known to be whimsical.

"Hyperion (168 miles, 270 kilometers across) rotates chaotically, essentially tumbling unpredictably through space as it orbits Saturn. Because of this, it's challenging to target a specific region of the moon's surface, and most of Cassini's previous close approaches have encountered more or less the same familiar side of the craggy moon," NASA's JPL said in a press release.

Cassini is nearing the end of its highly successful Saturn mission. End of this year. it is set to fly out of Saturn's equatorial plane. The mission's final year will see it navigate Saturn's rings even as it prepares for the last leg of its mission. Cassini was launched in 1997 and reached Saturn in 2004.