Terraforming

"There are other worlds than this one, and if there's no air to breathe, we will simply have to make it." ―Sir Peter Weyland looking to the future (from Alien: The Roleplaying Game)

Terraforming or Terraformation, literally meaning "Earth shaping", was the process of modifying the atmosphere, temperature, surface or ecology of a planet, moon, planetoid or other celestial bodies in order to make them similar to the environment of Earth, thus making them habitable for human life.

History

Terraforming practice officially began on February 2nd, 2016 when Peter Weyland effectively generated a localized, synthetic atmosphere over the polar ice cap, ending global warming.
By 2026, Weyland-Yutani Corporation privatized NASA's Kepler mission and discovered 6,546 biocompatible planets. In August 9th, 2029 Weyland earned the patent 11,280,599 for methods and apparatus for their first Automated Atmosphere Processor, a device capable of enhancing a planet's capability of supporting life.
In August 10th, 2031, terraforming began on Luna with three settlements, ending in 2039. That year also marked a milestone with the creation of the first functional and breathable atmosphere on GJ667Cc. The Weyland Corp Terraforming Division was created on March 9th, 2072, along with Health, Transportation, Energy, Electronics, Security and Cybernetics divisions.

Terraformation Process

A planet or moon might be rendered biocompatible and even possibly habitable by the use of Atmosphere processing stations, Atmosphere presurizers or other techniques like algae bloom tanks. Depending on the properties of the planet, creating a breathable atmosphere could take decades as in the case of LV-426 "Acheron".
The atmosphere converting process started when native atmosphere was drawn in through a series of levers in the base and sides of the Atmosphere Processing Station. This gas was then drawn up through a battery of turbines, which compressed and accelerated the atmosphere, into a series of hot mass processors arranged in a ring around the central fusion core. Within the processors, the gas was passed through a high temperature electrical arc that heated and ionized it, before it was further heated to near plasma temperatures in the region of 5,000°K by magnetic coils. The extreme heat caused molecules within the gas to dissociate into their component atoms.
Once reduced, the hot streams of monatomic gas were sorted by a series of magnetic fields into their constituent elements. Some of these components, such as carbon, were drawn off as waste by-product, many of which had value as fuel sources, industrial cleaning solvents or raw materials for manufacturing. The remaining hydrogen, nitrogen and oxygen atoms were expelled back into the atmosphere from the top of the processor to form as H2, N2 and O2. Repurposing an existing atmosphere in this way was said to be preferable to generating a breathable atmosphere from scratch.

Atmospheric Pressurizers

The atmospheric pressurizer could create a locally adapted micro-pressurized environment to prevent injury, illness or discomfort on off-world colonies with either marginal or oppressive stratospheric hold. On most planets, a standard atmospheric pressure of approximately 1.0 atmosphere at sea level could be achieved, reducing the need for decompression treatments and additional medical personnel in the early stages of terraforming.

Algae Bloom Tanks

The most efficient and safe way to consume excess carbon dioxide and generate oxygen to improve air quality was to use the microalgae photosynthesis principle. When any marine and freshwater microalgae grew, they produced oxygen from light and carbon dioxide by photosynthetic action. This process ultimately failed at the colony of Trono on LV-871.