NASA said yesterday that it would extend the Cassini mission until 2017 to explore Saturn and its moons more.

Cassini mission, which had already been given life extension up to 2010, was originally scheduled to end in 2008. Cassini had arrived at Saturn in 2004.

Cassini has provided scientists with evidence that one of Saturn's moons, named Enceladus, has water underneath its surface.

On the other hand, British scientists are abandoning research work on Saturn and its moons due to budget cuts.

In a letter to the Times, British scientists said that the Science & Technology Facilities Council’s decision to cut budget on Saturn probe would harm British astronomy sternly.

Commenting on the issue, professor Andrew Coates from Mullard Space Science Laboratory at University College London, said, “We are letting our international partners down, and leaving our own scientists out in the cold.”

Scientists said that the Science & Technology Facilities Council was endangering Britain’s involvement in future missions, just to save around £700,000 annually.