That's very true, Christian. The convenience of having such a place close enough to come and go in a few days makes much more sense to learn and refine a technique than taking six months for each one way trip.
Some people I know who's opinion I trust on science/space exploration tell me that so much more info is garnered from deep space satellites and landers vs. manned missions (space station incl), that rather see the $$ put toward unmanned missions.