[Twisol]

> Gonna chime in here to comment that most NASA missions (and ESA too) provide the scientific data for download free of charge

I thought that was the case, but it's been so long since I've been on a mission proper (Cassini, student co-op) that I didn't want to say so without basis. Thanks!

[astroflask]

Yes, I just explore these archives as a hobby and sometimes do a bit of amateur processing on the files. There tends to be some embargo period (a few months to a couple of years) where only the mission team has access to the data, and they decide how/to whom share it. But then again, they are all scientists and willing to share knowledge 99.9% of the time -- so a fellow researcher will probably be able to get a copy of the data if they are polite and ask for it accordingly.

As I'm just "playing" with the files, I don't mind waiting a few months/years to get access to full "scientific grade" readings from incredible complex machines and systems. And if the "raw" data is not easily available, they also usually do provide processed images as part of the missions public outreach campaigns (usually the ones that are found on Wikipedia).