Some comments on the feedback:

If you want to blame the increase on it being a lander rather than an orbiting probe, how much more interest do you think a human mission would bring? I think it is clearly contradictory to claim human missions hold little additional interest value yet claim getting a more human view from a lander cranks up interest.

How do you explain the increase in interest from pathfinder to Spirit if you think the high interest is just from being a lander rather than an orbiter?

If you don't want to believe Mars as the target makes any difference try comparing the Mars orbiters with NEAR or Lunar Prospector in interest.

If you think Cassini is going to generate more interest why didn't Galileo generate more interest than Mars missions? Saturn may have rings, but the bands of Jupiter are far more interesting than those on Saturn and Jupiter had 4 Moons of high interest rather than one. I wouldn't be surprised myself if Cassini generated more interest, but I don't think it is a foregone conclusion based on the interest in Galileo. Perhaps picture volume will make a big difference, major surprises on Titan, or just the rings.

I don't see pictures of Earth as a big deal since many space probes have made them in Earth swingbyes and we have lots of Satellites in Earth orbit which can take pictures.

Regards,
Mark