© 2026 NPR Illinois
For your right to be curious.
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Click here to register to attend the This I Believe - Meet the Authors event Nov. 4, 6 PM at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library. Free and open to the public.

Pathfinder Revisted

Five years ago, a plucky little spacecraft called Pathfinder parachuted into Mars and sent back rock composition data and stunning images of the Martian surface. On the five-year anniversary of the mission, Joe Palca reports for All Things Considered that planning for the next mission in 2003 is already underway.

Copyright 2002 NPR