..what I see in the bulk of society
today is the desire for "instant gratification"...It's difficult for
science and space-exploration to compete
for that type of public interest.

Rocks, and even rock formations are unfortunately 'boring' to millions of taxpaying people [sorry, Dr. Blackwell, but it's true! And academic interests turn most people off, or cause them to snooze.]
On the other hand, violent volcanic eruptions & geysers do indeed interest
millions and millions of people [taxpayers included], that's why I hope
that one day soon a bone fide volcanic eruption will happen on Mars,
or that astronauts or robotrovers will
show a martian geyser [in video] violently spewing dangerously close
to the terrestrial observer, whoever
he, she or it [robotcraft] is.

Jacob