"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.

"The Terrestrial Planet Finder (TPF) uses a small collection of high sensitivity telescopes (probably 4 large 3.5-meter telescopes) with revolutionary imaging technologies. It will measure the temperature, size, and the orbital parameters of planets as small as our Earth in the habitable zones of distant solar systems. Also, TPF's spectroscopy will allow atmospheric chemists and biologists to use the relative amounts of gases like carbon dioxide, water vapor, methane and ozone to find whether a planet might support life. The launch was to be anticipated between 2012-2015 until NASA's budget cuts." The Terrestrial Planet Finder was discussed in the book Physics of the Future. This object will have better optics and will be approximately 100 times more sensitive than the Hubble Space Telescope. Its infrared sensors will be able to nullify the intense radiation from a star by a million times, revealing planets that have been undiscoverable otherwise. This radiation will even have the power to completely remove a star from the universe, if one ever so desires. The Terrestrial Planet Finder is predicted to be an extremely valuable tool to astronauts and scientists within the next century.

"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.

"By the mid-2030s, I believe we can send humans to orbit Mars and return them safely to Earth. And a landing on Mars will follow. And I expect to be around to see it," [President Barack Obama] said in April 2010 during an address at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida." When it comes to looking for new potential places to land and establish civilization, moons are often overlooked. While the colonization of Mars is predicted to begin within the next century, humans may be sent to Deimos much sooner. Deimos is one of the two moons of Mars, and it is predicted to be able to sustain life. I think that even though overpopulation is not the greatest problem that humanity faces right now, finding a place to live outside of our home planet may be a worthwhile endeavor.

"The superior energy density of antimatter annihilation has often been pointed to as the ultimate source of energy for propulsion. Unfortunately, the limited capacity and very low efficiency of present-day antiproton production methods suggest that antimatter may be too costly to consider for near-term propulsion applications." Antimatter is not the same thing as dark matter or the lack of matter altogether. A single teaspoon of antimatter can destroy the metropolitan area of New York City. Antimatter is extremely difficult to harness, and prohibitively expensive as of now. However, in the future, antimatter may be able to be used to power rockets into the depths of outer space. This concept was discussed in Physics of the Future.

This article is useful because it explores the profound advantages of modern space technology. Several factors limit the depth of space exploration for humans. Astronauts would be able to travel further if they had better space suits. A single fault in any type of space suit is fatal, as the vast climate of space is so much different from the atmosphere of Earth and therefore completely nonsupporting of a human without full insulation and protection. High-tech space suits could not only provide better comfort to astronauts, but they could also provide more convenience and productivity, resulting in higher overall performance. Not only could improved, futuristic spacesuits enable astronauts to support themselves for an extended period of time, enabling them to travel further distances, newer technology might even be able to bring humans to places that have been far too hostile to travel before-- like Mars.