Terrestrial planet from the original solar nebula. The Solar System has four terrestrial planets: Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars. Only one terrestrial planet, Earth, is known to have an active hydrosphere. During the formation of the Solar System, there were probably many more terrestrial planetesimals, but most merged with or were ejected by the four terrestrial planets. Dwarf planets, such as Ceres, Pluto and Eris, and small Solar System bodies are similar to terrestrial planets in the fact that they do have a solid surface, but are, on average, composed of more icy materials (Ceres, Pluto and Eris have densities of 2.17,
Colonization of the outer Solar System Colonization of the outer Solar System Many parts of the outer Solar System have been considered for possible future colonization. Most of the larger moons of the outer planets contain water ice, liquid water, and organic compounds that might be useful for sustaining human life. Colonies in the outer Solar System could also serve as centers for long-term investigation of the planet and the other moons. In particular, robotic devices could be controlled by humans without the very long time delays incurred in communicating with Earth. There have also been proposals to place robotic aerostats in the upper atmospheres of