If we announced that we were doing a sample return, I'm sure it would open up funding from a lot of places. Corporate sponsors would show up much more than they have so far, of course. We could sell the rocks to the government and private buyers for outrageous prices. We could get corporations to finance us in return for assocating them with the mission in some way-- send your logo to Mars! That is just a few ideas.
I think your right. If you want to finance your missions via private sponsorship, you'd more likely find it by promising a sample return mission than a filming one. I think there's a certain romance to bringing back materials from an alien world that captures people's imaginations. And on top of that the mission would just have a lot more scientific value, which might appeal to some corporations who sponsor it in hopes that it gives them the public image of being progressive.
]]>If we announced that we were doing a sample return, I'm sure it would open up funding from a lot of places. Corporate sponsors would show up much more than they have so far, of course. We could sell the rocks to the government and private buyers for outrageous prices. We could get corporations to finance us in return for assocating them with the mission in some way-- send your logo to Mars! That is just a few ideas. We might even be able to grab some monetary help from some space or science related government organization, somehow. I don't think NASA would be real friendly to the idea, although it is possible, given that NASA wouldn't really have much of an excuse to feed the public like they did with the Tito thing.
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