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I got to thinking. Is there any chance we could nudge this to impact the Hellas Planitia on Mars. It's the lowest point of Mars and therefore already has a higher atmospheric density (.01 ATM). So if we could double the depth and potentially add more water, it would really get us closer to a great location for a colony.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hellas_Planitia

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Have you read the Mars Trilogy by Kim Stanley Robinson? I bet you have, but if you haven't, you should. It's the most amazing hard science fiction regarding terraforming and colonzing Mars. Planetary-scale engineering techniques to heat Mars up, add water, increase the atmospheric pressure, etc are discussed in detail.

"The Sky So Big and Black" by Johne Barnes is also a interesting read about Mars-forming. (And memes, too!)

I wonder what the minimum atmospheric pressure is to grow some kind of plants out in the open? (Or bio-engineer some plants to grow). Would this get us in that ballpark?

Also, what the minimum pressure a human could survive with just a breathing mask?

There is an interesting bit from NASA here that covers your concerns, http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2004/25...

I think it would be a neat high-school-level science experiment to find some plant that reproduces quickly, and then put it in a bell jar with ever-decreasing levels of air pressure to try and force natural selection to make something that can survive at very low pressures. (Edit: You won't approach Mars-level pressures with these experiments.)

At the college level, I've read papers about inserting specific genes into plants to increase their hardiness with thin atmospheres.

No, it's far too big.

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