The NASA feed I watched mentioned “NASA science” being carried on the lander so I think this is just an expansion of our move from fully public funded space science missions to a mix of private/public.
At first I wasn’t happy about it, but I know our country and too many people don’t give a single shit about NASA or any space exploration so the budget is terrible.
Well, a company that happens to be located currently within the USA.
They could just as easily have been based in Australia, or France, or Canada. It’s not a public thing at all, just a private business thing.
The NASA feed I watched mentioned “NASA science” being carried on the lander so I think this is just an expansion of our move from fully public funded space science missions to a mix of private/public.
At first I wasn’t happy about it, but I know our country and too many people don’t give a single shit about NASA or any space exploration so the budget is terrible.
They went on a direct task order from NASA.
NASA funded almost half the mission.