$1M is not the full price of this mission. $1M is the price of the lander only. They were given a ride on a rocket whose total bill was $62.5 million (just for the launch, but spread among 4 missions).
When you spend $1 million but get $10 million of stuff for free, it's not really a "$1 million project."
adastra22
The $433M number I quoted was for the hardware only too. Apples to apples.
I worked NASA planetary science before. $1m is CRAZY cheap.
When you spend $1 million but get $10 million of stuff for free, it's not really a "$1 million project."