<Astronomer says private adventurers could get there first

Right! If private “adventurers” found something valuable the nearest government would confiscate it. There would be many, many excuses. (Company sponsored terrorism, or could sponsor terrorism, or knows someone who might have sponsored terrorism, or someone works for them who might have met a terrorist so we have to loot them in the interests of world peace sort of thing. Farfetched, crazy, I know, but possible.)

Ain’t gonna happen that a private company spends the money to get there first. In the US, the gov’t spends the money then gives the spoils to private industry. They call that “capitalism”. Gov’t (taxpayers) take the risk, wealthy people take the spoils. See “Drug Companies” for comparison.

Arf, arf, arf, arf.