NASA's Cassini spacecraft recently got a closer look at the pockmarked surface of Dione, one of Saturn's dozens of moons.

The craft got a closer look at the cratered terrain of Dione earlier this week. It took some images of the moon from a distance of just 321 miles away from its surface.

The space agency said the spacecraft will be another flyby to the moon in August by coming within 295 miles of Dione.

The recent encounter of the craft with Dione was the second, as it earlier passed within 60 miles of the moon in December 2011.

Cassini was launched in 1997 and arrived at the ringed plate in 2004. Since then, the craft has been scrutinizing around in the area, exploring Saturn and its dozens of moons.

The spacecraft's jaunt around Saturn is expected to come to an end on Sept. 15, 2017, when NASA predicts it will run out of fuel and enter Saturn's atmosphere.

Cassini's unprecedented view of Dione's cratered surface was captured by the probe with a distance of only 321 miles, which is also one of its closest approaches.

The recent images of the craft were taken by Cassini's narrow angle camera and were captured while the probe was at a distance of 48,000 miles from the moon where Saturn's majestic rings can be observed from a distance.

This image was taken during Cassini's penultimate flyby and is also part of the last series of the scientific phase of the mission before it begins its final stage.

Mission controllers have already started to prepare the spacecraft to swoop down on Saturn's ring plane where it will be placed into its polar orbit.

The Cassini team will then transmit commands to the spacecraft where it will start to explore the rings of the gas giant, offering the closest view ever of Saturn's rings and its mysterious environment.