Quote Originally Posted by frugal-one View Post
we were not in the throws of a pandemic where masses of people were out of work and looking for help with basic necessities.
This mission, like all space probes, was planned years ago and has been in the design, development, and building process ever since. It's rocket was launched on July 30, 2020, which means by the time the pandemic became a thing in March everything had already been done and the rocket was sitting there just waiting for the proper date for it to be launched. Wherefore then dost thou bemoan the coincidence of pandemic and launch as though they were somehow related?