Re: Not landing
Not to mention, they don't even know what will be needed to make a landing to begin with, or if it will even be possible, nor do they know what sort of protection a lander would need. This probe is necessary to figure out how to land successfully.
They didn't even land on the Moon first go. Apollo 8 and 10 were flyby missions whose sole purpose was to fly there and back to see if it was possible, and to take a bunch of close-up pictures of the Moon prior to landing.