"goofy NASA stuff"? This isn't coming across as well-informed. There's a lot of engineering that goes in to all these spacecraft. The goals are usually scien

"goofy NASA stuff"? This isn't coming across as well-informed. There's a lot of engineering that goes in to all these spacecraft. The goals are usually scientific (except for tech. demonstrations), but the means are highly coupled to engineering advances -- new sensors, materials, algorithms.