Returning moon resources to earth for profit is still science fiction.
The trip to mars and back, for example, may be a lot easier if you've already manufactured on mars the air, water, fuel, and other resources for human visits and return trips, before the humans arrive.
In some plans this would involve a nuclear powered space factory that would take in the very thin martian atmosphere and scarce hydrogen resources to make fuel, air, and water to support humans who would arrive later. Humans would arrive on mars to a fully stocked space hotel, and fully fueled vehicles for the return trip.
Personally, I don't think humans will ever have a meaningful presence in space beyond low earth orbit. We're just too damned fragile.
But our intellectual offspring may have a chance, either artificial intelligences or engineered humans, creatures who could cheerfully bounce across the surface of the moon or mars stark naked. Until then I'd much rather support unmanned space exploration.
I say this with some regret. My grandfather was an engineer for the Apollo Project. Bits of metal he made carried men to the moon and back. Some of them are on the moon and in the Smithsonian. He was an Army Air officer in World War II, his work helped defeat the Nazis, but he rarely talked about that. It was a job that had to be done. (The Army, very wisely, kept him mostly on the ground.) But he'd always talk with great enthusiasm and pride about work he did for the space program.
Nevertheless, there are worse ways to spend money than human space exploration. We could be building useless aircraft carriers named after useless Presidents...
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