Definition of TERRAFORMING
1. transforming a hostile environment into one able to sustain human life; this includes a
source of oxygen, water, plant life, and correct air pressure and temperature
Terraforming is not so much a single technology as it is a vision. It is one composed of multiple technological theories involving the creation of habitable conditions for humans to thrive. The ideology for terraforming can involve other planets being formed into a new, ideal, earth-like environment. This is a fairly new concept that only came to recent light in the early part of the 20th century. Though we mostly see this idea depicted in science fiction movies such as Aliens1, Total Recall2, and Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan3, it has indeed been evolved to the point where even people at NASA and those in private industries consider the possibilities.
Some readers might believe that this technology, or a form of it, is already in use by those involved in the secret space program on the Moon, Mars, and even Venus. I am not one to argue the matter, as I have my own beliefs and have seen some compelling evidence, but this section will focus only on facts that can be verified, undeniably.
In 1930, British philosopher and science fiction writer, William Olaf Stapledon (1886 - 1950)4
1 Aliens, dir. by James Cameron (1986; 20th Century Fox, 1990 VHS)
, wrote the book, Last and First
2 Total Recall, dir. by Paul Verhoeven (1990; TriStar Pictures, 1990 VHS)
3 Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan, dir. by Nicholas Meyer (1982; Paramount Pictures, 1985 VHS)
4 The Olaf Stapledon Online Archive, 'About Olaf Stapledon',
http://olafstapledonarchive.webs.com/biography.html (accessed 25 Jul. 2013)
Men1, in which he suggested that by using electrolysis on the assumed global sea on Venus, it would fabricate oxygen and create a breathable atmosphere for humans. This, as far as I have found, is the first time terraforming was described, and although it was done so in the form of a science fiction book, the author, Stapledon, had some interesting views and philosophies about how humans could, or would, live in the future. In fact, his work was so innovative, that one could almost suggest he had his own ideology of Transhumanism, because in his science fiction work, he wrote of genetic engineering, synthetic cognitive enhancements in pets, and most interestingly of the 'supermind', which was composed of many individual minds into the one conscious form.
Stapledon was a great influence to such writers as Arthur C.
Clarke and C. S. Lewis. His work is quite interesting and must be considered when looking into much of the world of Transhumanism.
In 1951, the aforementioned writer, Arthur C. Clarke, wrote the novel, entitled, The Sands of Mars2, and in the book, the terraforming of Mars occurs. This novel, and many others like it in the science fiction genre can be found throughout the first half of the 20th century, though it quickly became a concept that grabbed the attention of some of the top scientific minds of the era. One notable person was famous astronomer, astrophysicist, and cosmologist, Carl Sagan (1934 - 1996)3, who, in 1961, wrote an article for the journal, Science, where he proposed the terraforming of Venus4.
1 William Olaf Stapledon, Last and First Men (London: Methuen, 1930) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Last_and_First_Men (accessed 25 Jul. 2013)
2 Arthur C. Clarke, The Sands of Mars (London: Sidgwick & Jackson, 1951) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sands_of_Mars (accessed 20 Jun. 2013)
3 The Carl Sagan Portal, Duran – Sagan Associates, http://www.carlsagan.com/
(accessed 7 Aug. 2012)
4 Carl Sagan, 'The Planet Venus', Science, 24 Mar. 1961, Vol. 133 No. 3456 pp. 849-858, http://www.sciencemag.org/content/133/3456/849.extract (accessed 3 Aug. 2013)
Sagan suggested that the atmosphere of Venus could be seeded with blue-green algae that would then convert water, nitrogen, and carbon dioxide into organic compounds, which, in time, would create the desirable level of breathable air for humans to sustain. Although his article resulted in many questions and debates surrounding the sulfuric acid composition of the clouds on Venus, plus other obstacles, it nevertheless opened the science community to a new concept that was indeed plausible, with such technologies born out of Project Cirrus (see, Artificial Clouds & Weather Modification).
This leads to my belief, explained earlier, that the geoengineering activities happening globally today are indeed a form of terraforming, but not quite the same as what might be done on another planet. The technology used, and the hushed agenda of geoengineering (i.e., chemtrails) basically falls into the same principles of terraforming. And it seems Sagan did not just stop with this idea after his 1961 article - in fact, one can assume that this was a concept he revised and evolved throughout his life.
It was in 1973 that Sagan had his article, Planetary Engineering on Mars1, published in the journal, Icarus, wherein he visualized making Mars a habitable planet for humans. What Sagan was proposing and envisioning were, in my opinion, a triggering point for NASA, because it was three years later that the U.S. space agency addressed the issue of planetary engineering in a study. NASA, being shrewd as always, termed this concept 'planetary ecosynthesis'2
1 Carl Sagan, 'Planetary Engineering on Mars', Icarus, 20 Jul. 1973, pp. 513-514,
http://media.cigionline.org/geoeng/1973%20-%20Sagan%20-%20Planetary%20Engineering%20on%20Mars.pdf (accessed 3 Aug. 2013)
: an interesting way to put it. The amazing part about the study was that NASA did conclude that it was possible to make Mars a habitable
2 NASA Ames Research Center, 'On the Habitability of Mars: An Approach to Planetary Ecosynthesis', Scientific and Technical Information Office, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 1976, Vol. 414 of NASA SP,
http://books.google.com/books/about/On_the_Habitability_of_Mars.html?id=JhMgAA AAIAAJ (accessed 3 Aug. 2012)
environment for humans to survive on. That same year, the first conference session on terraforming - then called 'Planetary Modeling'1 - took place.
At this point, I wonder who is more deserving of the title, 'Father of Terraforming'. Stapledon did write about the idea in several of his novels early on in the 20th century, however, it was Jack Williamson2 who some say coined the term 'terraforming', in his science fiction story, Collision Orbit, published in 1942. But, as visionary as they both were, they were science fiction writers, and I feel that Carl Sagan should be given the title because it was through his publications that current science and technology were brought into the spectrum in order to make this a tangible idea. NASA obviously felt that Sagan was on to something, and decided to see where it would lead.
It was in March 1979 that NASA engineer and author, James Oberg3, organized the First Terraforming Colloquium. This was a special session held at the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference in Houston, Texas, with a gathering of minds designed to take this technological idea to further reaches beyond what most considered plausible. Terraforming is spoken about the least out of all the Transhumanism technologies, yet, its ideas continue quietly to evolve; and perhaps only do so purposely.
As recently as 2007, scientists gathered in Aspen, Colorado, and after much discussion, decided that Mars is absolutely a
1 Kjetil Gjerde, M.Sc., 'Terraforming – The Modern Alchemy or Tomorrows Engineering Technology?', Biblioteca Pleyades,
http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/universo/terraforming/terraforming06.htm (accessed 3 Aug. 2012)
2 Wikipedia The Free Encyclopedia, 'Jack Williamson', Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Williamson (accessed 2 Aug. 2013)
3 James Oberg, 'Profile', http://www.jamesoberg.com/profile.html (accessed 3 Aug.
2013)
terraforming target for the 21st century1. This is not an isolated incident, as, during my research, I have discovered other privately funded entities who wish to reach beyond Earth for an alternative destination where human life can thrive. Some are not quite looking to terraform a planet, but are definitely wanting it to have habitable conditions for human life.
One such example is Mars One2, which has a mission objective to establish a privately funded Mars colony on the planet by 2023. It has become so popular worldwide that the organization putting the plan together has received well over 100,000 applicants who want their shot at taking the one-way emigration trip to Mars, of which Mars One plans to broadcast live, 24 hours a day. This would make it the first interplanetary 'reality show' - a televised and on-going "global media event, from astronaut selection to training, from lift-off to landing. [...]"
NASA, along with other space agencies, including the European Space Agency, is spending billions to survey, not just planets in our solar system, but relatively nearby Earth-like planets that reside in the Goldilocks Zone3 of the star they orbit around. The Goldilocks Zone is the zone where a planet, close to the size of Earth, is not too close, or too far away, from its own Sun. This desired 'comfort zone', as some astronomers refer to it, is where a planet would most likely have great potential for life to thrive - and even humans to survive on.
Theoretically speaking, if, say, the agencies involved in the secret space program utilized advanced space travel technology to travel to one of these 'Goldilocks' planets for terraforming, it is likely that the amount of time it would take to adjust the
1 Leonard David, 'Scientist Calls Mars a Terraforming Target for the 21st Century', Space.com, 23 Jun. 2007, http://www.space.com/3993-scientist-calls-mars-terraforming-target-21st-century.html (accessed 3 Aug. 2012)
2 Mars One Foundation, http://www.mars-one.com/en/ (accessed 3 Feb. 2013)
3 William Harris, Jacob Silverman, 'Are we not the only Earth out there?',
HowStuffWorks, Inc., http://science.howstuffworks.com/other-earth1.htm (accessed 3 Aug. 2013)
atmosphere would be greatly reduced with a higher chance of success than if it was to be attempted on a planet like Venus. In the past five years, the world space agencies - and even amateur astronomers - have been finding a massive amount of these types of planets. But the hardline concept and reason for terraforming is to do it within our own solar system, and this is why Mars, and Venus, as well as moons like Titan and Europa have been given special attention by NASA.
Terraforming is quite the paradox for me, for a number of reasons. I can see it being a viably good option to preserve our entire species if our planet should begin to die by natural causes; in this instance, we could embark upon a global mission to colonize another planet once terraforming has been completed and confirmed. I can also understand terraforming if our own planet becomes over-crowded (although, in this instance, we would only have ourselves to blame), but if we make the choice to move on from a disaster or accident created by our own unconscionable activity, we cannot reasonably assume that we would not create another situation like it in another cycle upon another planet, and this is why I question our authority to terraform. Are we mature enough, yet, as a species?
Terraforming for colonization purposes brings many issues to the fore that need respectful consideration, including that of the power and control of any new interplanetary colonies. Knowing our history with the already corrupt United Nations and the overtly tyrannical Government of the United States, who would be the most likely candidate for fair leadership? Would, perhaps, a new colony be sponsored or funded and governed by a multi-national corporation like BP Oil, or Monsanto, or even Google? Whilst this sounds dramatic, simply refer to the power structures in place today, and follow the money. All possibilities lead to equally frightening choices.
Resolution begins by taking realistic goals and working together on fixing our global problems here on Earth. Greed, over consumerism, deforesting, population booms, and other
problems that are easily fixed or turned around should be resolved first. The amount of time, effort, money, and man-power utilized in all the technologies of Transhumanism could be combined for creating a much better and wholesome world where people learn how to return to the roots of our ancestors and re-initialize our co-existence with nature. Terraforming is not necessarily an intelligent beneficial solution, as it is a solution of avoidance born out of not wanting to be accountable for our unfortunate ruin.