What is Terraforming?

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The process of Terraforming - by The SciGaze

Humans are working more and more on extraterrestrial habitations. A few decades back we were planning to settle on the Moon and now we are planning the same on Mars. Many researchers also proposed many theories on such habitations as O'Neill Cylinder, McKendree Cylinder, and many more. One such famous hypothetical theory is Terraforming. But what does the term terraforming mean?

Terraforming is the process of transforming the atmosphere, topography, temperature and other factors of any moon or planet to make it habitable and similar to the Earth. It was Carl Sagan who first proposed the theory of terraforming. He proposed the terraforming of Venus. He thought of seeding Venus with algae. The algae will convert nitrogen and carbon dioxide to organic matter and eventually, the greenhouse effect will reduce to a comfortable, habitual level. 

However, later studies revealed that the clouds of Venus are full of sulphuric acid. Also, the atmosphere of Venus is very thick, any carbon content in the organic matter will lead to the formation of even more carbon dioxide. All these factors made the idea of the terraformation of Venus impossible.

According to Martyn Fogg, terraforming can be considered as a substitute branch of geoengineering and planetary engineering. The ultimate goal of terraforming is to create an ecosystem on any planet with all the properties of the biosphere of the Earth. Terraformation of different planets needs different techniques. Like for Venus, we need to lower its temperature by more than 100° C. While for Mars, we need to increase its temperature. It is believed that Mars can be terraformed in the next few centuries, but it is impossible for Venus for the next several thousand centuries. 

Terraformed planets will be designed with respect to their atmosphere, temperature and other factors. Hence it is not necessary that terraformed worlds would be breathable for humans. Then what is the need for terraformation? This is one of the most asked questions when one discusses terraformation. Those new worlds may not support humans but will support liquid water and crops (agriculture). According to recent studies, in the next few decades or say in the next century, the shortage of food and water will be the greatest challenge for humanity. 

Thus a planet that supports agriculture and waters is the best site for settlement for humans. Also, almost all terrestrial planets and moons are rich sources of metals and other materials. Like Earth's crust has an abundance of aluminium and iron, similarly, Mars also has an abundance of magnesium, iron and aluminium in its crust. Hence our need for metals and other materials will also be fulfilled there. 

 Late Carl Sagan, Martyn Fogg, Robert Zubrin are some of the greatest believers of terraforming and extraterrestrial habitations of human civilisation. According to Carl Sagan, Earth cannot be the permanent place to settle for humans. Earth will eventually be destroyed by nature. So humans have two choices to make, terraforming other worlds to settle or watch all life forms become extinct. 

According to Dr Christopher McKay, an American planetary scientist, terraforming is ethical only if that (alien) planet does not have biological life of its own. Planets or moons with an abundance of organic matter like methane, ammonia etc are believed to have microbiological life forms. Such microscopic life should not be damaged in terraforming, instead, we should try to terraform in such a way that humans and that alien life coexist. 

Another problem in the path of terraforming is the technology. Till today no such technology is developed which could start the process of terraformation on another planet or the moon. Even if we develop such technology in near future, its cost would be very high for any space agency. John Hickman said that currently none of the terraforming schemes has economic strategies, instead, they are much costlier than expected. However, many researchers are working on strategies to make the terraformation of Mars possible in near future.

Terraforming is not a topic for the space race. All the space agencies around the world have to work together to make this possible in terms of both, economically and technologically. Terraformation is nowadays a famous topic in science fiction. Many movies, sci-fi books and comics have mentioned terraformation. Many mobile games are also based on this. Till today around 20 video games are themed on terraforming. Among them, the most famous nowadays is TerraGenesis, a game based on the terraformation of different planets and moons of the solar system. Films like Star Trek, Man of Steel have mentioned terraformation in many ways.     



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