The ethics of terraforming Mars: a review iGEM Valencia Team 2010

Terraforming of a planetary body (planet or moon) or planetary ecosynthesis is the hypothetical process of deliberately modifying its atmosphere composition, temperature, topography, or ecology to be similar to those of Earth to make it habitable for Terran organism, including humans. Terraforming is a common concept in science fiction. In fact, Jack Williamson, a science fiction writer, coined the term in 1942. But the first to use the concept was H.G. Wells in his The War of the Worlds (1898), where the martian invaders start a terraforming-reverse process in order to change our planet for their own benefit. But since the publication of The Sands of Mars in 1951 by Arthur C. Clarke, the great majority of stories regarding terraforming were settled on Mars. One recent example is the wonderful Mars Trilogy by Kim Stanley Robinson that has filled our dreams about the red planet with astonishing details.