Canaan Terra-logs

[kenshin156]

She got everything set up and now pushed the button on a console. Videofeed of her can be seen, as well as alot of notes around the room.

Alright, let's get this started... again

*she sighs*

Okay, so this will be the first of the new "Terra-Logs" we'll set up as we actually managed to get stuck with our little information and we might've missed some very important things.

She opens her wide-HUD, swiping her hand to the right, opening up a hologramboard with a few pictures of blue flowers, aside with alot of written information.

We'll start with the most common thing we could find in the Omicrons - thanks to Hans - the "Blue Jillies".
The Blue Jillies - being a native species of Planet Stuttgart - have been cultivated for centuries. They require a rather high level of Oxygen as well as specific contents of nitrogen in the ground to grow properly.
They have vibrant sapphire blue petals and a strong pleasant aroma which provides to make them much more likely to be noticed by pollinators to ensure the spread of the pollen.

She closes the wide-HUD turning around to a blackboard filled with multiple notes about atmosphere.

Of course, what we'd need first, though, to add Flora and Fauna into a Planet without any or just little atmosphere, we have to create said atmosphere.
But sadly we do not have the technology to "pump" masses of atmosphere contents on a planet, so we'd have to stick to the enormously long and tedious process of starting with bacteria and plancton, moving to moss, then flowers, bushes, small trees and then larger ones, before we can even think about getting wildlife on the surface, which would probably be the last step to terraforming a Planet to T3-level.

She turned around again, lifting up a pot with a few blue flowers, showing them into the camera.


These are the Blue Jillies I was talking about. Again, I'll have to thank Hans for these. Getting any sort of Flora in the Omicrons is basically a lost game.
Anyway, they are very pretty and have a strong but nice aroma.
Sadly - due to the said high oxygen levels and specific nitrogen contents needed - this will probably just be a flower that could be used in terraforming at about...

She thinks for a while.

I think around late T2-levels, maybe, when the planetory enviroment has been rendered harmless and we have the right amount of oxygen provided in the atmosphere
Alright, I think that's probably all we could think of so far.
To everyone of the Canaan Research Division. I will keep the Blackbox in the labs turned on, so - even if we forget to record any progress or data gets corrupted - we will have the data stored.
Feel free to test around and record anything that can improve our knowledge of terraforming.

Maria Calvo - Out.

She moves her arm towards the camera and the video cuts off.

[kenshin156]

The videofeed started, the laboratory can be seen almost exactly like in the last video. As Maria moved from the camera a bit further into frame, she can be heard cussing.

Damn those lazy bastards...

She turns towards the camera

I am as much surprised, as I am disappointed in our Research Division.
I forwarded the last videofeed to everyone capable of this task, but what do I see?
Exactly. Nothing!
Not even the Blackbox caught anything.
There has been nobody here.
I will now again ask you to please - PLEASE - move your lazy asses here and gather anything. We had a hard reset, goddamnit.
The information is not going to come back on its own.

She massages her temples and sighs

Okay, so I have something else now, thanks to Hans again.
We were on a trip through House Space and we got us some Fertilizers.
After asking a bit around, I noticed there are multiple variations of fertilizers.
From basic fertilizers, over to NPP additions - composed of Nitrogen, Phosphor and Potassium - , rootstimulants or pH corrections.

She opens her wide-HUD, scrolling through lots of information

But generally they're all altering the amounts and intensity of nutrients in the earth to enhance the growth speed, crop yields and also enabling plants to even grow in environments that lack the nutrients needed for survival of these plants.

Usually I don't cover the economical factors of anything, really.
But this is something to talk about.
While the prize for one unit of Fertilizers costs about 129 Credits in Rheinland space, the prize of Fertilizers in other areas is extremely high.
For example Rheinland's rival Liberty charges 2,705 Credits per unit of Fertilizers.
It's amazing, though that's probably because the agricultural sector is still rather active in Rheinland, whereas this sector has been sort of "replaced" by Synth Foods.

She closes the wide-HUD

As for basic information, the use of fertilizers would be in early T2- or T3-phase to make it easier for the lesser flora to grow, increasing the oxygen levels a bit faster...

She stops, sighs a bit and looks into the camera again

And by the way. Even though it should be obvious in the Division we're in, but again, here's the phases and how they are described.

T0: A planet in T0 phase is completely uninhabitable, with its own environment being too hazardous for anything. Ranging from either insanely cold surface temperatures with blizzards or to extreme hot surfaces with erupting surface, live volcanos and lava flowing like water.

T1: A planet with no life on it what-so-ever, but the hazardous environment has been neutralized.

T2: A planet in T2 Phase does not have any living Fauna on it, but is filled with a stable flora-system.

T3: A T3 Planet is fully terraformed with Flora and Fauna. Colonization and life is fully possible in these surroundings.

She takes a breath before continuing

Alright. That's everything I have so far, It hink.
Again, the Blackbox is on. I hope next time there will be something else than my voice here.

Maria Calvo - Out.

She moves towards the camera and turns it off.

[...]

As the video log begins playing, you see a white, sterile laboratory environment with a projection whiteboard in the center of the room. In front of the screen is a male scientist, holding a pen and a sheaf of notes. He has short brown hair, and is wearing a white labcoat.

"For the record, this is video log number F-3 of the Canaan Mothership Arcadia. My name is Dr. Julian Barbour, vice senior scientist on terraforming architecture and infrastructure."

"The purpose of this log is to summarize what we know of current terraforming methods that don't involve prohibitively expensive, protected technology."

"One of the most practical and cheapest terraforming technologies is the biodome. As you know, a biodome is a planetside shell, typically constructed out of radiation-shielded reinforced class, and steel alloy beams in a spherical configuration."

At the pressing of a button on the man's pen, an image of a biodome diagram appears on the screen behind him.

"The low cost of this method is due to the engineering required. Specifically, the structure itself can be built in space dock, and carried down by suitable ships, such as carriers and mega-transports, of which these vessel's engines are sufficiently powerful to carry the load."

"The first step in biodome construction is finding a suitably optimal location. The location must be flat, and preferably have nearby resources which can be mined or somehow utilized for further colonization. Then, the foundation must be lowered in pieces. This is to ensure proper sealing at the ground level, to minimize oxygen and resource leakage. The foundation provides in-built docking ports to allow personnel and resource exchange with carriers."

The man adjusts his glasses.

"The second step is the lowering of the dome itself. For larger biodomes, a measure of modularity in design is needed. In state-of-the-art biodome systems, a modular construction scheme is implemented: Ships carry down relatively small, although in scale huge, pieces of the dome at a time. On land, these pieces are attached together using strong neodynium electromagnets, and later welded together by human operators in space construction vehicles"

An image of a standard space construction vehicle appears on the screen. It is a grey humanoid chassis, equipped with thrusters and multipurpose construction limbs.

"After ensuring the biodome has a strong seal against the environment, and a working airlock, the third step is the insertion of appropriate gasses into the environment. Resouce transfer is typically done with a transport-class ship, via docking of the foundation."

"Finally, once the biodome has been carefully inspected and deemed safe, human workers may come in and put up modular living quarters and research facilities, as well as agricultural centers - which usually consist of deployable greenhouses."

"From this point, larger-scale terraforming via organic life is more readily possible, using the methods Dr. Calvo is so fond of. For more details, consult the written research logs in the database, or contact me via the internal network. This concludes video log number F-3."

You see Dr. Barbour pointedly press a button on the pen, and the video abruptly cuts off.