The probe passed within 2,068 kilometers (1,285 miles) of the moon Phoebe on Friday, according to data received by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, which also indicated the spacecraft's engine is working properly.

The probe's final course correction is scheduled for June 16, before it becomes the first man-made object to orbit Saturn.

The three-billion-dollar international mission is to carry out a four-year study of Saturn, its rings and larger moons.

"One down, 52 to go," said Jeremy Jones, chief navigator for the Cassini-Huygens mission at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.

During the probe's four-year mission, it will orbit Saturn 76 times and execute 52 close encounters with seven of the planet's 31 known moons, said

SPACE.WIRE