Probes can do almost anything crew can do, and many things that crew cannot.

This take is a little ignorant. But I understand where you’re coming from.

Humans on mars could do almost all of the research that decades of landers and rovers have done in days. They’re also able to make more on the fly decision and pivot in research strategy, technique, and tools used.

The only thing human space flight seems to do is help us get better at human space flight.

In regards to this, a lot of technological advances that were founded or improved for the space programme have been highly beneficial it at least useful, on earth.

To add to all this, I don’t know the figures for modern day nasa research and programmes, but the apollo programme is estimated to have returned $13 to the US for every $1 spent on it.