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"It is a real possibility -- a "space elevator" -- that researchers are considering today as a far-out space transportation system for the next century." Spacec travel is becoming a more realistic idea. This form of transportation may become widespread in the near future.

"Yes, ladies and gentlemen, welcome aboard NASA's Millennium-Two Space Elevator. Your first stop will be the Lunar-level platform before we continue on to the New Frontier Space Colony development. The entire ride will take about 5 hours, so sit back and enjoy the trip. As we rise, be sure to watch outside the window as the curvature of the Earth becomes visible and the sky changes from deep blue to black, truly one of the most breathtaking views you will ever see!" The concept of an elevator, designed to take one beyond the atmosphere of the Earth and into space, has been tossed around a while. The elevator, which is predicted to be 35,786 km in height, may be able to become a reality.

"The space elevator may be the answer." This is a quote from this article. This article is from the NASA website. It is reliable because it is from a very reliable company, NASA. This article is explaining what a space elevator is, how it works, and and what it's place will be in 2100, or sometime in the future. We can definitely use this information for making predictions about space travel in our project. I like this source because it was not just a website talking about small details in space elevator construction. This website was very detailed in explaining the science of space elevators. This shows how space elevators will become popular and normal by 2100.

LISA will create an upheaval in scientific knowledge "The Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) is a proposed space mission concept designed to detect and accurately measure gravitational waves[3] - tiny ripples in the fabric of space-time - from astronomical sources. The LISA Project has now evolved into eLISA (Evolved Laser Interferometer Space Antenna). The project is currently a collaboration of the self-funded and independent eLISA consortium. [4] The LISA project was previously a joint effort between the United States space agency NASA and the European Space Agency ESA. However, on April 8, 2011, NASA announced that it would likely be unable to continue its LISA partnership with the European Space Agency,[5] due to funding limitations. [6] ESA has therefore revised the mission's concept to fit into a European-only cost envelope. Currently the project is undergoing the selection process for one of the next large ESA mission. [7]"

"The Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) is a proposed space mission concept designed to detect and accurately measure gravitational waves" LISA is also called a Big Bang Observer. Those who believe in the Big Bang are hoping that LISA will be able to prove their theory.

"Kepler is a space observatory launched by NASA to discover Earth-like planets orbiting other stars." Kepler was launched in 2009 and still orbits.

"The Terrestrial Planet Finder (TPF) was a proposed project by NASA to construct a system of telescopes for detecting extrasolar terrestrial planets." The TPF is the most likely option we have to further the goals of Kepler.

Kaku talks about space colonization in the future. "Space colonization (also called space settlement, or extraterrestrial colonization) is permanent human habitation outside of Earth. Many arguments have been made for space colonization. A common one is ensuring the survival of human civilization and Earth's biosphere from disasters such as asteroid impact or global nuclear war. Another is helping to provide unlimited space-based solar power and other resources to let all human beings on Earth enjoy developed-world lifestyles with far less environmental damage, and eventually providing a High Frontier where any number of people may settle and thrive. After its successful Apollo project moon landings, the US NASA sponsored the first formal engineering studies of a space colony concept: Princeton professor Gerard O'Neill and colleagues' proposals to build space colonies and Solar Power Satellites (SPS) from lunar materials.[1][2] These proposals are striking for their boldness, level of detail and technical rigor. The thickness of metal beams needed to contain the colony's atmosphere and withstand rotation for artificial gravity was engineered. Chemical reactions to smelt them out of Moon rocks were worked out (by a young K. Eric Drexler, who later became famous as the founder of Nanotechnology).[3] The Moon rocks would be launched to the desired orbital location cheaply using O'Neill's electromagnetic mass driver. Modifying standard 1970s industrial productivity figures as needed (work in space suits would be slower; moving heavy objects in weightlessness easier than in factories on Earth), they estimated that the 10,000-person workforce housed in the first Island One colony could produce one giant SPS-capable of supplying 5% of total American electricity demand-each year. Yet the project timeline didn't call for producing the first commercial SPS until Year 22, and the huge investment-totaling almost $200 billion in 1975 dollars-wouldn't be fully repaid unt

In this article you can find various information about the future of propulsion devices that are planned to be used for the future rockets. This article strictly keys in on the idea of Nuclear Fusion Generators to provide energy for the rocket. Although, in this article they also state that this may not happen anytime soon because of the fact that so far, humanity has not been able to create a generator that creates more energy than it consumes. Other ideas include extremely large solar panel sails that have lasers bouncing off of them. This article includes very useful information about futuristic propulsion devices.

There was another place for life to flourish and the Voyager found it "The identical Voyager spacecraft are three-axis stabilized systems that use celestial or gyro referenced attitude control to maintain pointing of the high-gain antennas toward Earth."

In this article you will find key information to begin the great researching stage of this project. While reading this website you learn that one of the main goals of DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) and NASA are to create an Interstellar Spaceship that would be able to travel to stars that are light years away. This project is what they will be focusing a majority of their research on and giving grants to separate organizations to help them carry out this goal. They are hoping to develop this spaceship in the next 100 years and are hoping to use futuristic technologies such as thermonuclear engines, or sending vehicles across the galaxy by bouncing laser beams off their sails to help create these spaceships. They are also offering to accept new ideas such as anti-gravity engines, and plasma shields. This website holds very useful information.

"The skeptics among the Old Space people will say to the upstarts: Where's your rocket? How many times have you launched? Can you deliver reliably? Repeatedly? Safely? We put a man on the moon - what have you done?" I find this source to be incredibly useful for it describes how current companies are already at work creating innovations in space travel. It shows how "Old Space" and "New Space" are competing with each other and how NASA is chipping in. I will use this website to learn what we already have and how far we still need to go. I believe this is a reliable source because it was published by The Washington Post, a typically trustworthy website.

In this website you will find information about how space is planning to be commercialized. You can currently buy a ticket to go up into space for $250,000.The plan for the future is that people want to create companies that would ship people up into space for a reasonable price, so that people could go on vacations into space. Also, the plan is to make space travel commercial, much like air-line companies, instead of having space travel be a strictly governmental idea. One way to help our governments travel further into space and explore, is the new idea to use the moon as a base to help rockets fuel-up. Basically, they want the moon to be a gas station for rockets and use some of the dirt from the moon to help create the fuel. This website is very helpful in giving various information about the commercialization of space.

"Beyond listening for deliberate signals, SETI scientists could conceivably find extraterrestrial transmissions that weren't meant for us, just as our radio and television signals have been leaking into space this century." This pdf gave some very helpful information on SETI. I gained much knowledge about the background of this theme and will definitely be able to use what I have learned while writing my paragraph about this theme. To make sure that this was a reliable source, I did a bit of research on the author. Dr. Steven Garber is the founder of the Washington Institute and is the Scholar-in-Residence of the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities, leading me to believe that this pdf is a very dependable source. Citations: "Staff." The Washington Institute. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Mar. 2014.

"Europa is an icy world slightly smaller than Earth's moon. It is unique in the solar system, being thought to have a global ocean of water in contact with a rocky seafloor. If the ocean is proven to exist, Europa could be a promising place to look for life beyond Earth." It's not Europe, it's Europa. Europa is one of the 63 discovered moons of Jupiter, which may be able to sustain life if it is carefully colonized. There is thought to be twice the amount of water on Europa than on Earth, and signs of energy are making scientists want to learn more and more about the somewhat distant moon.

In this article you will learn about the specific next steps that will be implemented to extend our exploration of the solar system. We plan on using the moon as a fueling station for our rockets so that we could travel further away from the Earth. Although, unlike other articles, this one goes into more details explaining how our base would most likely be located on the South Pole of the moon, because of the hydrogen rich soil in that region that could be transformed into fuel. Next, this article talks about how NASA wants to build new spaceships called Orion crew exploration vehicles that would be three times larger in volume than their other space crafts and is flexible, reusable, and can land on land repeatedly. This article may not dive in depth of what we will see far into the future, but this article truly shows what the next step is to getting there.

Mr. Obama's 2010 budget proposal for NASA asks for $18 billion over five years for fueling spacecraft in orbit, new types of engines to accelerate spacecraft through space and robotic factories that could churn soil on the Moon - and eventually Mars - into rocket fuel.

space colonization