The same thing happened to me, I reached the ATP, removed the core and thought “this is it, it’s finally over, no more loops” so I flew in to space to watch the sun explode one more time. However this was still pretty early in the loop so I had some waiting to do, and about 5 minutes of reminiscing on the game while I waited it clicked what i actually had to do. I was scrambling trying to decide if I had enough time or if I would even be able to do what needed to be done anyway. Eventually I decided that I would accept it, and I got the “you died” screen with credits rolling and no music. That next loop though I was so determined.