Terraform

The term Terraform is of Terran origin and literally means "make like Terra."

That term continued with it's original meaning even in the early days of the Union, since the Saran, Pan Saran and even the Ult homeworlds could be considered "Terralike." As time went on, and Union Members started arriving from environments very different than Terra, the term expanded to mean "To make a planet originally very hostile to life inhabitable without external aids to likeforms from an Union Planet.

While there were cases during the Second Exodus of existing biospheres being destroyed by terraforming planets that had not been completely surveighed, currently it's against the law to apply terraforming on any planet or asteroid that hasn't been confirmed to have no known lifeforms.

The extent of Terraforming done to a planet can vary considerably. On one extreme is the creation of artificial planets or restoring planets that had been a victim of a P Bomb attack to the point that they can sustain organic lifeforms again. On the other extreme is minor adjustments to the amount of water on the surface or gases in the atmosphere.

Technology developed for terraforming also has been used in restoring a heavily polluted planet like Terra at the time of the Ascent and Woorld after it joined.