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I suspected as much. It doesn't sound like "value for money" which is my concern. There are better scientific objectives than shooting for the moon cold-war style to raise awareness and interest in it. Look how much attention everyone paid to Beagle 2 which had proper scientific objectives, that was until it tragically failed. RIP.

Couldn't agree more with your last point; this country is tragically embroiled in celebrityism.

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I suspect part of the reasoning for going to the moon rather than elsewhere is exactly to avoid a Beagle-like fiasco. This should be a relatively safe bet to relaunch the sector.

I wonder how much of this initiative is a reaction to recent success at ESA. To the layman, ESA seems politically dominated by continental interests; and a couple of bigwigs seemed to take a swipe at "countries going alone" during Phileas celebrations.

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