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[Sheb]

Belgium suggest that we send two smaller, automated ships along with the main one carrying Britain's oganism, to start terraforming the other two planets.

We'll also supply industrial equipment and workers to the colony. I suggest said colony be called New Terra.

[Taricus]

The primary colonisation target already has an optimal atmosphere, we could just land and start ecological terraformation there.

[Sheb]

Why start on one when you can start on three? Plus, it'll take significant time until an athmosphere can be created by those bacterias. We better start now.

[Demonsul]

Hello, everyone. I am the representative from the British New Empire South African Territories. *turns to the main BNE delegate* I apologize for being late, Sir, but I do need to be here to comply with our quasi-independence charter.

In any case, these terraforming efforts should be reconsidered until thorough studies are put into the local eco- and geosystems of the planets involved. Just charging in and teraforming a world could destroy potential research opportunities. Therefore, I propose that we establish non-intrusive dome bases before attempting to terraform the worlds.

[Taricus]

Two of the prospects don't have much of any lifeforms we can detect, the final one has no ecosystem we can find. Geological studies we can pass to you.

[Shootandrun]

And it will take more time to colonize these planets, and more money. I say, we send our life-detecting probes in the pools of water and we take any organism we find to look at them later. If there is life in the water of the atmosphere bearing planet, then we can send the Korean probes to scan the whole surface. This should delay by one week the colonization of the planet. Our probes will bring back to Earth the "things" they will find on the planet. And on Earth, we will have better equipment to experiment on these.

If you want to have scientists who are going to look at the geosystems of the planet, you can. The terraforming will not affect the geology of the planet.

((After all, we are only building an ecosystem on the planet, right?))

Is that a good option, representative?

[Sheb]

Surely, science cannot stand in the way of the collective hope of the whole of humankind?

Surely, those domes can be used to protect some area of the current wasteland, while leaving most of the planet up for colonization!

[Taricus]

I'd say that we research them locally, as we'll need the environment as well.

[Demonsul]

Who knows how much damage earth-churning bacteria and life could do to rocks literally billions of years old, that we know nothing about? There was a reason there was that huge uproar when terraforming was first suggested for Mars, after all! Our colonists can live in domes, at least until some studies have been concluded, surely! We can always terraform later, but if we do so now, we won't be able to go back!

[Sheb]

Science can perform its trick on a few thousand square kilometers.

I suggest you design the most promising spots as scientifics reserves, while the majority of the planet start to be terraformed.

[Shootandrun]

I agree. Why would the humans live in dome while scientists work on the planet, if humans could live on the planet and scientists work in domes?

[Demonsul]

The very act of placing domes could damage and disrupt rock formation, rendering any kind of study moot. Besides, unless you plan on sending the entire population of the solar system on the first shuttles, providing anything more than life support habitation would be extremely costly and wasteful of resources.

I know the BNESAT is just a satellite state, but it seems to me that I am the only one thinking of the scientific prospects of studying an entire extrasolar world here.

[Sheb]

And it seems that you are the only one forgetting about the tremendous political, economical and societal importance of settling those planets. Ever since humans first stepped out of Africa, they have been exploring their surroundings settling new places, sailing to new islands and continent, climbing the highest mountains and going under the seas. And now that we are faced with the greatest opportunity since the first human stepped off their trees, and that this opportunity is more needed than ever to alleviate the pressure 10 billions humans are exercing over Earth's overstretched ecosystems, you want us not to take it in order to let a few dozens scientists enjoy looking at pebbles?

Belgium won't let you deprive humanity of its future. If domes aren't enough for you, you'll have to settle for exploring the moons and asteroids of Alpha Centauri.

[Demonsul]

It has already been stated that we are to head to three worlds! Even if we establish entire cities of a million people each, there are vast stretches of those planets that we will not even consider to be of use for years! And you seek to bury that in the same old same old Earth style, when it would be both practical and scientific to instead reserve areas for humans, and leave the huge world-chaging projects until the research is done, until the planets have the demands that actually require them?

[Taricus]

Why not both, we establish the colonies as scientific bases. Give the colonists payment for the new information.