Colonizing Planets (part 1)

For many years now, NASA has been looking at other planets in our solar system for potential colonization. Why is the space organization so interested in this venture? We've never tried to colonize the moon, and it is the closest, most realistic endeavor considering the low cost when compared with the distance of Mars, for example. Yet NASA continues to eye planets like Mars and Venus (yes, Venus! More on that later this week) for setting up a human colony. The argument can be made that we will eventually deplete the resources of this planet, or that we might destroy ourselves someday in any number of ways, so starting a colony on another planet would serve as a way to preserve the human race. As astronomers are continually searching the cosmos for other earth-like planets, NASA's endeavor to colonize begins to make a little more sense—colonizing a planet in our own solar system might just be practice—preparation for the day we may actually discover another earth out there, just waiting for us!