QUESTION:
I was wondering if any of the people on the team could tell me if my idea
has been thought of already. My idea is as follows: A dome made out of some
sort of plastic or glass could be built on the surface of Mars. This dome
would be tinted to block out the ultraviolet rays. Inside the dome, there
would be plants. There would be a filter which would concentrate CO2 from
the atmosphere into the dome. Also, there would be something that could
capture the water vapor from the air and allow it to reach the plants.  This
idea is still in it's beginning stages, but I was wondering if it would be
possible for you to tell me if it has already been thought of.

ANSWER from Jack Farmer:
NASA is actively considering robotically-deployed experiments of the type
you describe as part of the landed mission component of the Mars Global
Surveyor Program. Much of this work is being coordinated by Johnson Space
Center, Houston, and I would encourage you to find their web site and search
there for up-to-date information. Certainly in situ resource production will
be very important for human exploration of Mars, but some aspects (e.g.
propellant production) have importance for robotic exploration as well. By
utilizing the resources on Mars, we can both cut mission costs and do a lot
more exploring while we are there. So your experiment is very timely indeed.
For additional information, I would also try and track down a recent book by
Robert Zubrin entitled "The Case for Mars" (Free Press Publishers). This has
a lot of information of the type that would be useful to you. It is a new
book and is in the bookstores and libraries now. It should be easy to find.
Also, you may wish to check out something called the Mars Mission Reference
Document which discusses the results of a number of large planning studies,
only on the larger scale needed to support human missions. The Homepage for
this document is through the Johnson Space Center Website and can be found
at http://www-sn.jsc.nasa.gov/explore/Data/Lib/EICIndex.htm#200. Good luck!

Jack Farmer