My issue with this is that Video games are one of the only media that you can often, for one reason or another, not go back too and enjoy years down the road, without some difficulty.

Honestly, its an incredibly important part of a space sim. Without it, exploration ends up so much less fulfillling. Its still fun, but when your discovery is just the start of a mystery, thats where the real fun is. Do you go public, or do you hide the discovery and try to solve it alone?