[BenLurkin]

The questions in my mind are numerous. What’s the cause of this inequity? Why do we seem to latch onto certain spacecraft and blithely ignore others?

[cripplecreek]

Why do we seem to latch onto certain spacecraft and blithely ignore others?

I don't follow every spacecraft in operation but I do follow a lot of them. I keep a moderate eye on the Mars missions but my primary interests these days are on New Horizons, Dawn, and Juno.

[Calvin Locke]

Some provide a "thrill", while other don't?

You can look up articles on how humdrum Mars missions languished for years in public obscurity after one of the Mariners took away the Mars mystique in popular culture by revealing that there isn't all that much there to stoke the public's imagination.