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2005 Masters Class Team Project

"Terraforming and Precursor Activities"

*Background:* An ISU Team Project is an innovative, original research
activity conducted by students as an integral part of the Masters
curriculum. Students from many disciplines and many countries work
together to produce a complete design for an international space effort,
analogous to a NASA Phase A study. The product of the student effort is
a published report that is distributed to space agencies and academic
institutions around the world.

Team Projects are interdisciplinary, with students addressing technical,
scientific, economic, ethical, legal and policy aspects of their topic.
The students' conclusions come from critical analysis of the work of
others (literature) as well as their own independent creative research.
As with all ISU Team Projects, it is hoped that the international team
of students, unconstrained by previous plans or policies, will identify
and document innovative ideas to advance the study of their topic.

*Terraforming Team Project Phase One -- Literature Survey:* The Team
Project of the ISU 2005 Masters class will address terraforming. By
studying our own planet and the processes that make Earth a viable
biosphere for life as we know it, the students have begun to understand
the requirements that could define habitable environments elsewhere in
the Solar System and beyond. Phase One of the student effort was an
extensive literature search to review current thinking and assess the
feasibility of such a venture. The students' multidisciplinary survey
includes a history of terraforming studies over the past decades, a
focus on the evolution of Earth as an analog terraformed body, an
examination of the qualities to seek in a target planetary body, and an
identification of scientific and technological methods for terraforming.
Just as significant are the economic, legal and ethical aspects of
research that are currently a source of turbulent debate. These issues
have been surveyed, as have financial issues.

*Collaboration with the Astrobiology Community:* As part of the effort
to gather information, the students have worked closely with Chris McKay
of NASA Ames and Tom Meyer of the University of Colorado. McKay, who has
worked with ISU on astrobiology activities in the past, participated in
a long teleconference with the students and provided a briefing on the
ethics of terraforming. He continues to interact with the students via
e-mail and will visit ISU in Strasbourg in March. Meyer has provided
extensive lists of relevant references for the students to study in
developing their literature survey. He is also organizing an early
February teleconference for himself and other experts in the field to
help the students move from the literature survey into the next phase of
the project.

It is anticipated that the MSS05 terraforming report will be
particularly useful to professionals associated with the NAI involved in
astrobiology and terraforming studies.

*Terraforming Team Project Phase 2 -- Original Research:* The bulk of
terraforming literature concerns methods of terraforming target bodies
within our Solar System, and in particular Mars. Through the students'
review of current literature, it is apparent that terraforming is now
viewed more seriously than it was thirty years ago. Although scientists
are not yet in agreement over which methods would be the most effective,
or the timescales in which they would be implemented, some of the
methods are within reach. The real potential for terraforming in
practice has caused the debate to shift from the domain of the
technological, to include that of the socio-economic, ethical, and
legal. These are difficult questions to address and the current
literature contains a great deal of inconsistent and often times
directly conflicting information. Humankind cannot undertake such an
endeavor without having a focused, comprehensive plan for space
settlement that is not driven entirely by technology.

At this early stage in Phase Two of the Team Project, the students are
considering a number of possible thrusts for their creative research.
Possible directions for Phase Two include a deeper exploration of the
less investigated aspects of terraforming, such as the aforementioned
socio-economic, ethical, and legal aspects. It may be possible to draft
the preliminary legal documentation for an international "Terraforming
Law." At a minimum, the students will establish a complete methodology
for terraforming a specific planet such as Mars, which could be
implemented with current or near-current technology. Another possibility
is the exploration of less-studied targets of terraforming, such as
Titan. There is a great deal of new information being collected by the
Cassini-Huygens mission, and applying this information could help
contribute unique ideas to current terraforming literature. Specific
interests of the students through all these topics include detection of
life, ethical issues including planetary protection, and possible
utilization of colonizing organisms capable of adapting to conditions
such as on Mars.

It is important to note that the students' literature survey plus their
consultations with Chris McKay, in particular, have led them away from
envisioning Mars as a shirt-sleeve environment, or even a desirable one.
They are interested in the bioengineering and technological capacities
for survival on another world that is partially altered, or
"eco-formed," to use a McKay phrase. They are quite interested in the
ethical implications of terraforming, and are looking at, for example,
ways to mitigate contamination that has already occurred and prevent
future contamination, for scientific as well as ethical reasons.

*NAI Sponsorship:* ISU is seeking support for the 2005 Masters Team
Project in the amount of \$50,000 to cover University costs associated
with providing international faculty and lecturers to support the
students in conducting their innovative research on terraforming, and
also to cover the costs of developing, publishing and distributing the
student report on the subject.