> as it approached the ring plane, Cassini closed its canopy-like engine cover as a protective measure. This part caught my eye. I was not aware Cassini had th

> as it approached the ring plane, Cassini closed its canopy-like engine cover as a protective measure. This part caught my eye. I was not aware Cassini had this feature. I found a paper about the engine cover mechanism, which is quite interesting: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.31.5778&rep=rep1&type=pdf http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.31.... And here's a photo of the engine that shows the cover in a stowed position: https://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/system/content_pages/main_images/58_jpl-28436cc.jpg https://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/system/content_pages/main_images...