9 Places We Could Build Space Colonies

Depending on who you talk to, the future of the human race is either bleak or extraordinary.

There are those who think that we'll never make it off our little planet, but you don't need that kind of negativity in your life. There are also plenty of people who hold the view that humans are destined for the stars and that, one day, we'll have the entire solar system for a back yard.

The more we learn about the solar system and the galaxy beyond, the more potential second homes for humanity we find. Granted, we haven't found anywhere with lush, rolling countryside and a Tesco Local just yet - life in an off-world colony is likely to be as different as you can imagine.

Some could see us living beneath the waves in a subterranean ocean, in others we could be living above the clouds in huge floating cities, but some might be able to offer us a way of life that we might just recognise from home.

We're already making baby steps towards Mars and, more than 40 years after the last human left, people are beginning to eye the moon up again with renewed interest.

Who knows, the first off-world colonies could be a reality in your lifetime - but what would they look like?