On: BepiColombo’s First Views of Mercury

[skywal_l]

Indeed but there is a great marketing value though. And these missions rely on being marketed to the public for continued funding.

[SiempreViernes → skywal_l]

ESA funding isn't really politicised that way since it's a international organisation and no single politician can get their names on things.

[adolph → SiempreViernes]

All Member States contribute to these programmes on a scale based on their Gross National Product (GNP). The other programmes, known as ‘optional’, are only of interest to some Member States, who are free to decide on their level of involvement.

https://www.esa.int/About_Us/Corporate_news/Funding

[dotancohen → SiempreViernes]

Good thing that Giuseppe Colombo wasn't a politician!

[bregma → skywal_l]

They could probably get more funding if they reduced the amount of science the probes do so they could insert sell and insert advertizing into the data stream.