Terraforming
Terraforming was the process of modifying the environment of a planet or moon to make it habitable for life. In practice, this often meant modifying the world to be more like class M planets. Individuals who oversaw the terraforming process were known as terraformers.

Its converse was bioforming, which is the process of adapting a species biology and anatomy to the planet. ()

Process
Terraforming began with selecting a planet which had the right mass, gravity, rate of rotation, and balanced periods of day and night, and which were located in their sun's habitable zone. Federation efforts at terraforming were coordinated by Terraform Command and ensured both that there was no life on the planet, and that it would never naturally occur without outside interference. Terraforming stations would then be established.

Next, water had to be be made available for life in water basins. This could be done using hydraulic landscaping, sometimes with the additional step of filtering and re-oxygenating the subsurface water, or by directing water-rich comets into the planet's surface. If the water was hypersaline (meaning it had incredibly high salt content), portions of it could be desalinated to meet terrestrial and agricultural needs. Then, microorganisms were introduced as the first constituents of the biosphere permitting its atmosphere into self-sustaining oxygen production. As the biosphere expanded, higher order plants were introduced. One of the key metrics of the process being successful was monitoring the amount of vegetation on the planet.

Industrial replicators would allow for manufacture of large volumes of volatile compounds and elements critical for life (Carbon dioxide, Nitrogen, Ammonia, methane, etc). Terraformers accelerated the process; as of 2364, it would only would take around 30 years to build a habitable world, compared to millions or billions of years in nature. ( display graphic, , )

Terraforming could also be done on a smaller scale to correct an imbalance in a planet's geosphere or climate. For example, in 2370 the  participated in re-heating Atrea IV's planetary core, thus permitting the world to continue to harbor life. ()

The "Murder Planet" in the Delta Quadrant was capable of changing its topography and foilage to manipulate potential prey, a process Zero likened to terraforming. ()

The Illyrians did not practice terraforming, preferring to adapt their bodies to newly-colonised planets rather that disrupt or destroy their native environments. ()

History

Pre-Federation

In the 2050s, the class D planet Weytahn was terraformed by the Andorian Empire to serve as a colony. The process was apparently completed by 2097. ()

Among Humanity's first terraforming projects was Mars in the Sol system. A verteron array located near Utopia Colony would periodically redirect comets such as  into the ice caps, releasing trapped carbon dioxide and adding water. By 2155, the planet's atmosphere had been thickened enough that pressure gear was not required for humanoids to survive in the Martian lowlands, although thermal garments and a supply of oxygen were still necessary. ()

At some point prior to 2367, the reclusive Paxans terraformed a protoplanet in the Ngame Nebula to serve as a new homeworld, far from prying eyes. ()

An ancient generation ship, discovered sometime prior to 2380, stored large quantities of a terraforming emulsion that could transform inorganic material into a living ecosystem. It was theorized that this fluid would have been used to terraform the ship's target planet upon arrival, but an unknown calamity disabled the ship and killed its crew before it could arrive, leaving it to drift in space for centuries. ()

Federation
One of the ' first terraforming projects was Caldos, which was terraformed in the 23rd century. The Caldos colony, located in the northern hemisphere, was intended to evoke the Scottish Highlands. The Federation installed a weather control system for controlling the planet's weather, seismic stabilizers for stabilizing the planet's geology, so that the colony did not experience earthquakes, and fusion systems for powering the colony. ()

In 2257, the  rapidly terraformed a class 4 moon, Delta 2, by cultivating Prototaxites stellaviatori in order to replenish the vessel's supply of spores. ()

In the 2280s, Project Genesis, a team led by Dr. Carol Marcus, developed the Genesis Device, a torpedo that could transform a barren world into a habitable one almost instantaneously by reducing it to subatomic particles, then reassembling them according to the pre-programmed Genesis matrix. So powerful was the device that its detonation during the Battle of the Mutara Nebula in 2285 created a new planet, , using nothing but material from the Mutara Nebula and the remains of the . While the planet was indeed habitable, it fell apart months later due to the use of protomatter in the Genesis matrix, and the technology was abandoned. (, )

Professor Gideon Seyetik was among the Federation's most renowned terraformers during the 24th century, having been involved in the transformation of Blue Horizon and New Halana. ()

Numerous planets were undergoing terraformation in the late-24th century, such as Venus, Browder IV, and Doraf I. Starfleet vessels were sometimes sent on terraforming missions to assist with these efforts. (; ) The terraforming of Velara III was abandoned in 2364 after sentient "microbrains" were discovered on the planet, who would have been rendered extinct by the continuation of the project. ()

Examples

Technology
Atmospheric processor
AP 350
Genesis Device
Geo-terraforming vessel
Laser drill
Terraforming emulsion
Terraforming station

See also
Artificial biosphere
Terraforming mission

External links
 
 

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Academic disciplines
Geography