[kraemahz]

The robots can be iterated on Earth and the environments aren't much different. The problem here is NASA.

NASA is a politicized bureaucracy that has its hands tied behind its back. It cannot afford to take risks (both from a budget point of view and a politics point of view; failed missions are a wound to national pride). It cannot afford to hire the best and brightest because government payroll levels can't match industry wages.

NASA is mired in old engineering superstition and has wrapped all progress in procedures that make it impossible to iterate quickly. They've made hardware and software decisions produced for them by niche industries that charge 10-20x consumer prices for inferior hardware that is certified by NASA standards.

NASA is not the organization that made it to the Moon anymore.