Possibilities..
I''m reading in Ciel et Espace an interesting comparison in merits and drawbacks between a Manned Moon exploration and Mars exploration.
The Moon could be revisited by one country alone (for prestige purposes) but not Mars which will require international cooperations.
Manned space exploration is also more a matter of prestige. Robots are far cheaper, science oriented and international cooperations are easier to get as there is less a political pressure for scientific results.
Humans in space cannot be justified for science alone. Other reasons exist. One of them being if you dropped it , after what has been done, that would be particularly humiliating.