Nobody ever thought the little space probe that could would make it this long – originally intended for just four years of use, launched in 2004. Ten years and three mission extensions later, here we are: The Cassini mission has evolved into one of NASA’s most prodigious exploratory programs, sending back over 3,000 scientific reports and shedding untold amounts of light on the mysteries of the Saturn system. Still going strong, the only real limit to Cassini’s continued success is how much fuel it has left to power its rockets.

“Having a healthy, long-lived spacecraft at Saturn has afforded us a precious opportunity,” said Linda Spilker, Cassini project scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. “By having a decade there with Cassini, we have been privileged to witness never-before-seen events that are changing our understanding of how planetary systems form and what conditions might lead to habitats for life.”

In commemoration of the occasion, NASA took on the unenviable task of putting together a “top ten” list of Cassini’s most impressive discoveries. Here they are, in no particular order:

• The Huygens probe makes first landing on a moon in the outer solar system (Titan)

• Discovery of active, icy plumes on the Saturnian moon Enceladus

• Saturn’s rings revealed as active and dynamic — a laboratory for how planets form

• Titan revealed as an Earth-like world with rain, rivers, lakes and seas

• Studies of Saturn’s great northern storm of 2010-2011

• Studies reveal radio-wave patterns are not tied to Saturn’s interior rotation, as previously thought

• Vertical structures in the rings imaged for the first time

• Study of prebiotic chemistry on Titan

• Mystery of the dual, bright-dark surface of the moon Iapetus solved

• First complete view of the north polar hexagon and discovery of giant hurricanes at both of Saturn’s poles

For more information on any of these discoveries, NASA has created a website here.

Though engineers aren’t sure exactly of how much fuel is left in Cassini’s propeller tanks, it owes much of its longevity to quality engineering and incredibly efficient piloting by its operators.

“Our team has done a fantastic job optimizing trajectories to save propellant, and we’ve learned to operate the spacecraft to get the most out of it that we possibly can,” said Earl Maize, Cassini project manager at JPL. “We’re proud to celebrate a decade of exploring Saturn, and we look forward to many discoveries still to come.”