If the purpose of going to space is knowledge, to satisfy our curiosity,then robots can do it faster and cheaper....and better.

Remember Mars Pathfinder landing on Mars and the huge public interest, compared with the Columbia-Spacelab flight going on at the same time!

The astronauts on any alien world will wear gloves and gloves do limit human possibilities. There were ideas, long ago, to replace gloves by tools, at the end of the arm, operated by the astronaut inside his spacesuit....
Ballard, the oceanaut, once sent scientists underneath the ocean to have a look at the fauna....and instead of looking through the window, they were looking at the TV screen (which gave better images)....

We should indeed have people in space, but the reason should be not for science, but for perhaps irrational reasons like being the first to do it, the inspiration....

But do we dare claim those reasons ?

I'm not for colonization of a world, neither are politicians because the agenda is not for the benefit of those sending the people up there, but for the benefit of those up there. I can't imagine a government sending astronauts on another world knowing full well it won't reap the benefits from the expedition because the astronauts will want to keep them to themselves...So, perhaps a private company might do it instead, but that won't be for a while, and during that time, robots will get better and better. Earth robots will benefit from spinoffs coming from space robots and vice-versa.