The space between the planet Saturn and its rings seems to be "relatively dust-free", NASA says.
The surprising finding comes from data collected by the Cassini space orbiter, which last week made a first-ever "dive" between Saturn and its rings, according to a news release from the space agency's jet propulsion lab.
"The region between the rings and Saturn is 'the big empty', apparently," Cassini project manager Earl Maize said in a statement on Monday.
That could be good news for Cassini, allowing the orbiter to do some of its coming 21 dives without using its disc-shaped antenna as a shield against dust particles, NASA said.
Using the antenna as a shield rendered Cassini unreachable during its first dive.
Cassini, launched in 1997, has been orbiting Saturn since 2004.
It is scheduled to make a last plunge into Saturn in September, ending its mission.
