re: Discovery Missions
A great picture, the best one of a comet!
Stardust was one of the Discovery Missions, which were designed to be faster, better and cheaper.
The FBC concept can work and has succeeded. It's true that it sometimes went too far to the cheap end but it's the way to learn, I guess.
If a spacecraft is built faster, it will benefit from the latest technologies, the team that invented the spacecraft can also see it launched, achieve its mission and return back its data in a short enough timeframe for the team to stay together. Also, if it's faster, it won't be waiting in a hangar, waisting money.
Raoul