SCI Doesn't Offer Models of
Cassini or Mars Pathfinder...
But NASA/JPL's Cassini Mission to Saturn is offering two paper models of the Cassini spacecraft which you can download from the JPL site free of charge, print onto your own card stock, cut out, and put together. One model (pictured here) is accurate to scale and very detailed, and has sixteen pages of instructions. The other model is less accurate and less detailed, and can be assembled quickly.
It's a good thing the Cassini Program is offering these, because Cassini is really too big a spacecraft for SCI to make a laser-cut model large enough to be workable. Cassini launched on October 15, 1997, and is currently falling along its gravity-assist trajectory to Saturn.
Mars Pathfinder
Mattel, Inc. has produced a nice "Hot Wheels" version of the Mars Pathfinder Lander (Sagan Memorial Station) and Sojourner Rover. Unfortunately, it seems they don't even mention it on their web site. They have exclusive rights to the Pathfinder designs, so SCI won't be making any. Mattel toys are sold at toy stores everywhere, but you may have to contact Mattel to find out about the Rover model. The image, by the way, shows the Mattel Rover with its APXS (Alpha-proton X-ray spectrometer) sniffing a "Mars" rock (the rock came from the summit of Mauna Kea... it's not included in the Mattel package, you have to supply your own!). The colors in this photo aren't very good. The rover model has a bright metallic blue solar panel on top, and the rock is really much redder!
The NASA Mars Pathfinder Project is offering a free model of the Pathfinder Lander (Sagan Memorial Station) that you can download, cut out, and glue together.
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Browse the online illustrated Catalog for descriptions and images of products, close-ups of kit parts, information on pricing, shipping, and remittance, and of course the SCI Instant Online Order form.
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