All of these "Not Mars" people always seem to fall into the same boat where they know there's zero point to sticking human beings and life support systems into an observation probe so they trot out this "it's good practice, guys!" horseshit. Scientific progress is not the point of putting the first set of boots on Mars any more than it was the reason for first climbing Everest. The point is to prove it can be done. After that you can quibble about the most efficient method of further human spaceflight development. It's like they're standing in the way of us learning to walk because they insist we figure out the best brand of shoe first.