The instrumentation was good - and I thought 'Pluto' was excellent ( the mole ).

However - CP made a mistake in trying to be a Squires AND a Theisinger. He had a good idea, and the talents onboard to make the instrumentation - and that's where he should have stopped.

BUT - given that MEX was happening, and given the opportunity, I'm still glad, despite the negative press, that he had a go. Just a pity that the government didnt get behind him quick enough to put the max possible funding in at the beginning to give it its best shot. For what much of the treasury would consider an accounting error, we'd have had a proper go at it from the beginning and maybe achieved something.

It took the micro-probe design from napkin to flight hardware, which was a worthwhile exercise in itself. The miniturisation of the instrumentation was similarly worthwhile. But he shouldnt have taken on both. He should have just pitched the instrumentation as a payload and stuck as a PI.

Sadly - the net result is that there's no chance of a follow on.