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
Extraterrestrial liquid water vapour and could be indicators of liquid water deeper down. It could also be just ice. In June 2009, evidence was put forward for salty subterranean oceans on Enceladus. On April 3, 2014, NASA reported that evidence for a large underground ocean of liquid water on Enceladus, moon of planet Saturn, had been found by the Cassini spacecraft. According to the scientists, evidence of an underground ocean suggests that Enceladus is one of the most likely places in the solar system to "host microbial life". Emissions of water vapor have been detected from several regions of the dwarf planet Ceres.