Hayabusa2 carries multiple science payloads for remote sensing, sampling, and four small rovers that will investigate the asteroid surface by hopping and then on top of all that it will bring back samples in 2020!
All of that for less than $150 million! From a research data point of view, even having a color camera was overkill. Reminds me of Carl Sagan having to convince NASA to take the pale blue dot picture since it doesn’t have any significant value in the field of astronomy.
NASA is not allowed PR as a federal agency. Imagine how far ads, sponsoring games/events, etc, would get NASA in terms of PR. Compare that to the military:
On the other hand, I visited several of the major ESA facilities across Europe, and then Kennedy Space Center, and it was a stark difference how much more commercialized KSC is. It’s a proper theme park. I don’t think any other space agency has anything so touristy.
That's completely false. NASA has a very large PR (public affairs) team, 114 employees in 2016. NASA also spends about ~4 million a year with external advertising and PR agencies.
On the flip side, Brindenstine has discussed selling ad space on the sides of rockets and naming rights to missions. One concern (out of many) is ensuring that the money goes to NASA, and not just the treasury's general fund
All of that for less than $150 million! From a research data point of view, even having a color camera was overkill. Reminds me of Carl Sagan having to convince NASA to take the pale blue dot picture since it doesn’t have any significant value in the field of astronomy.