In the future, humans may live on planets beyond Earth or on the Moon as well. Surprisingly even, NASA scientists say that humankind could become a multi-world species and live in outer space at a faster rate than previously thought.
"Starting with the development and implementation of the first nuclear weapons in the final moments of World War II, humanity entered a window of danger that could not be safely closed until extraterrestrial colonies became a reality," NASA said.
"Our findings indicate that the first manned missions to land on Mars, objects in the asteroid belt and several moons on Jupiter and Saturn could occur before the end of the 21st century," they added.
Then in the 23rd century, humans may have been able to reach the edge of the Solar System. Not quite there, at the end of the 24th century, humans are thought to have started exploring other star systems.
Space exploration, even establishing colonies, is considered important because the Earth in the future may no longer be friendly to live in. "An aggressive and sustained program of space exploration, which includes colonization, is critical to the long-term survival of the human race," the NASA researcher said.
Even in the Great Filter theory, there is a theory that intelligent civilizations like humans can over time destroy themselves. Hence, migrating off planets is most likely a necessity in the future.
In detail, humans are predicted to land first on Mars in 2038, then in the asteroid belt in 2064. After that, the Proxima Centauri star system may be reachable in around 2254.
"By creating at least one or better a few independent colonies outside this world, humans can be better assured of their long-term survival from natural or human-caused disasters that threaten the Earth," they concluded.
