I think they should do more "cool" stuff in general. The rovers are great for science but to get the public engaged they also need to do exciting and novel stuff like flying drones on other planets. That's what gets people excited. I can't wait for the submarine under the ice of Europa
The helicopter was very controversial, because it’s a technology demo, and adds mass and risk to the overall mission without addressing its science goals. It was on the edge of being descoped for a long time.
I am glad that they did it. I am pretty big science nerd but even I am getting bored with the nth rover going to the same planet. NASA should be doing science but I think they also have the important role to push the limits of what we think is possible, inspire people and make the next generation interested in science instead of selling ads or creating CDOs. Being too risk-averse is not good for them in the long term.
