Travel beyond the Van Allen is one of the inhibitors to space travel. It's great to declare that we have to escape Earth Orbit to feel we are getting somewhere, but that belies the massive achievements that have happened over recent decades.
I feel that, as an example, the Mars landers and the JWST are more important than putting humans on the moon, and they are leading us to better spaceflight anyway.
I will go against others here and say NASA and ESA have done the right things for the most part until now.
Do I want us ON Mars and the Moon? Absolutely, and I hope we get back on the moon before China, but the real reason for NASA etcetera is science, not human inhabiting. If we are learning, we are achieving.
My own greatest feats in life were decades ago, but I've kept learning over those years and learning is of more value.
We will get to Mars and Jupiter's moons soon enough, and we shouldn't be cavalier about the dangers to space farers. Just going there is not enough of a reason, in fact, it's less of one.