Planetary sciences

The so-called planetary sciences, also collectively known as planetology, are a wide range of scientific disciplines related to the behaviour, formation, modeling and classification of various planetary bodies.

Fields within planetary sciences include geography, geology, geophysics and atmospheric sciences such as meteorology and climatology, hydrology, glaciology and oceanography, as well as to a lesser extent biology and ecology when taken on a global scale as the study of the planetary biosphere. Obviously, the astronomical context of the planet within its solar system must also be taken into account.

The planetary sciences are of utmost importance to colonization efforts; without a thorough scientific understanding of the environment successful colonization and habiforming of an alien world is likely to fail catastrophically.

Planetology can be used to develop technology that will eliminate waste more efficiently, expand the livable terrain of planets, and allow colonists to land on planets with hostile environments. It is also responsible for weapons that can destroy the ecology of a target planet, eliminating millions of colonists.