Terraforming Terraform was a word for the deliberate alteration of a planet ' s atmosphere and ecology to create an environment suited to human life . The word came from the Latin word " Terra " , meaning Earth . Description or the process . The terraforming technology used in 25th century by Dollar Intergalactic , under the guidance of Professor Spector consisted of several phases and required three years . First , terraformer missile s were launched penetrating deep underground . Then , robe - drones were deployed to mine resources and construct Terra - Sphere towers with missiles used as their foundations . Once completed , the towers started generating a protective energy - field around the planet to facilitate the creation of a biosphere . Nanotek swarms released after that were used to modify the atmosphere , temperature , topography and ecology to given specifications . New species were created from organisms with hyper - evolution genes . ( COMIC : " Terrorformer " ) Examples of terraforming . The Tenth Doctor used an atmospheric converter to clear the skies of Earth from ATMOS poison in 2008 . Luke Rattigan later used the same converter to blow up the Tenth Sontaran Battle Fleet and save Earth from invasion . ( TV : " The Poison Sky " ) Mitzi , the first cat to go into hyperspace , landed on the planet Photris , which was terraformed . ( PROSE : " The Cat Came Back " ) In the 25th century , Kano Dollar had the ice planet Isen VI into a jungle paradise . Unfortunately , this also awoke the Hyperion Rann - Korr . The Twelfth Doctor reversed the planet ' s terraformation , causing at least part of it to return to its original state . ( COMIC : " Terrorformer " ) In the late 25th century , Planet Hollywood was terraformed by a consortium of entertainment businesses . ( PROSE : " Peacemaker " ) According to one account , by the 26th century , Mars had been completely terraformed by humans to make it habitable . They melted the icecaps and installed a gravity web to make an Earth - like planet , albeit with less gravity and more UV light . ( PROSE : " GodEngine " , " Beige Planet Mars " ) According to another account , the Monk tried to alter history to make the Ice Warrior s terraform Mars to make it as it was millions of years before the 23rd century and prevent the Ice Warriors from altering Halcyon ' s ecosystem , but was unsuccessful . While repairing the atmospheric re - ioniser for the Ice Warriors ' use , the Eighth Doctor had altered the re - ioniser to make Mars ' air 80 % nitrogen and 20 % oxygen . The destruction of Deimos Moonbase also lit up Deimos , making the moon into an artificial sun that heated Mars to make it warm enough for humans . ( AUDIO : " The Resurrection of Mars " ) Before the 40th century , Io was terraformed for use as the headquarters of the Galactic Federation . ( PROSE : " Legacy " ) During the Second Great and Bountiful Human Empire , Agelaos was terraformed . ( PROSE : " The Weeping " ) In the 49th century , human s terraformed Alfava Metraxis . ( TV : " The Time of Angels " ) The Source was a creation myth for the people on the planet Messaline . The Tenth Doctor , Donna Noble , Martha Jones and the Doctor ' s daughter Jenny discovered it was a terraforming device . The Doctor released the device to trigger the terraforming of Messaline in 6012 . ( TV : " The Doctor ' s Daughter " ) After Earth and Mars became uninhabitable , Pluto was terraformed by the Usurian s . ( TV : " The Sun Makers " ) Shanquis was terraformed using human technology . Even after the humans died out , the terraforming devices could be activated by spoken English . ( AUDIO : " Bernice Summerfield and the Criminal Code " ) Osphogus was terraformed , allowing for it to be inhabited for five thousand years . ( AUDIO : " The One Doctor " ) The See - yee tried to terraform Earth , but the Eleventh Doctor made the device malfuction so it produced a jungle . ( AUDIO : " The Runaway Train " ) Similar processes . Technically , terraforming was the transformation of a planet to a more Earth - like form , but other species had similar processes to adapt planets to a form more like their own home planets . " " referenced the Kalekani , a species who used a terraforming virus which converted land into flat grassland , effectively turning it into a golf course . Fitz Kreiner believed they were made up . ( PROSE : " Interference - Book One " ) In 1864 , the Cei sent a terraforming device to Earth so it could be used as an outpost . ( AUDIO : " The Runaway Train " ) In 1997 , the Ice Warrior s planned to wipe out the human s and terraform — more specifically , areoform — Earth , but they were unsuccessful . ( PROSE : " The Dying Days " ) The Cthalctose created a terraforming device called the Genesis of Cthalctose . It sparked the Agent Yellow crisis in 2003 . ( PROSE : " Eternity Weeps " ) Torchwood Three speculated that the Vandrogonite Visualiser was intended as a terraforming device . ( PROSE : " Pack Animals " ) The Ice Warrior s attempted to terraform Earth again in the early 21st century using a Martian fungus . ( TV : " The Seeds of Death " ) In the 22nd century , the Dalek s terraformed ( or , technically , skaroformed ) Antalin to resemble Skaro . ( PROSE : " War of the Daleks " ) Around the 33rd century , the Ice Warrior s terraformed Halcyon , making it habitable to Martian life , but hostile to humans and the 20 billion Halcyon . ( AUDIO : " The Resurrection of Mars " ) The Dalek s somehow terraformed Jupiter . They changed it from a gas giant to a planet that humans could survive on . ( AUDIO : " " , " " ) Terraforming was meant to modify the eco - system of a planet so that it resembled Earth and could be inhabited by humans . The humans did that to a lot of planets . However , terraforming could destroy the minerals that some humans wanted to mine . This was why the humans started to adapt . They modified their bodies to suit the alien environment . They completely reworked themselves and had new DNA sequences and new organs . ( AUDIO : " The Nu - Humans " ) Terraforming technology and companies . Geo - form ing was like terraforming , but much faster . ( AUDIO : " The Survivors " ) WorldCorp and PlanetScape were both human terraforming companies . ( PROSE : " Dark Progeny " ) Nooma was artificially created to test terraforming technology by the Aapex Corporation . ( PROSE : " Speed of Flight " ) A Terran Federation ship carried terraforming equipment . The Sontaran s took the ship and planned to use it to create cloning planets . ( COMIC : " Pureblood " ) Dollar Intergalactic was a 25th - century company pioneering terraforming technology . ( COMIC : " Terrorformer " )