I guess the main point is that NASA is forced to have contracts to verious USA states because of politics, but you have robots on Mars, space probes outside the Solar System, and other ambitious plans that are announced and discussed not revealed in a PR conference where the CEO removes a blanket and shows you the latest robot and fanboys chear.

I understand MAGA and Elon fanboys are attacking NASA and claim that master Elon can do it better so the government should give Elon all the money, no auctions or checks to be done. I mean all Elon promises were fulfilled on time and on budget , right ?