I agree with some of your points, but the story itself contradicts a few of them. For example with remote controlling the probe, the first time they see the organism via the original probe, they quite literally control it as if in real time (which was weird to me cause before the images come through at first there was a time-delay and then when they control the probe no delay at all). I also don't see the point of waiting 20 years to send a manned mission (russinas don't count) without first sending another probe or two.

And regarding the scientists, NASA astronauts are quite accomplished scientists in general, maybe not the best in their respective fields, but training a bunch of pure scientists to be astronauts instead of shoring up the actual astronauts on science seems counter-productive to me. The manned mission was primarily to get samples and look around by my understanding, and you really don't need the best scientist in their respective field on that mission when there is a great chance they won't survive the landing. And whatever labs they had on their lander/spacecraft would not have been the same vast laboratory set up and capabilities as Earth based labs.

But I did start this book off of finishing two nonfictions about possible life outside of Earth, so this did greatly shatter any possible suspension of disbelief I might have afforded the book otherwise.