Mercury IS worth it
I said that the mission design is flawed, not the mission itself.
For a 2004 launch we can't use a 1994 era proven design - DS1? DS1's ion propulsion, solar arrays (even smaller by Nx, that close to the sun) and AutoNav, which saves YEARS of NASA mission control expenses by eliminating some of the flybys on the proposed 6 year flight time. But no. Despite lots of rhetoric, NASA currently has ZERO missions authorized that use DS1s excellent technology. Ion propulsion is great for the inner solar system. Use it.
-philw