The next crew, however, would not. Weeks after the new seven-person crew entered Biosphere 2 on March 6, , problems back in the first biosphere intruded on the project. Bannon insisted on the removal of Allen and other senior managers. While the Biosphere 2 crew decided to stay, they vacated it five months later as the venture devolved into a flurry of lawsuits and countersuits.
Bass donated the facility to the University of Arizona in , and research on smaller projects continues. Biosphere 2 is a year project. We built it for the long-term investigation of fundamental processes underlying the earth experience. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! Twice a week we compile our most fascinating features and deliver them straight to you.
Live TV. This Day In History. See comments. An unusual scientific experiment ended 25 years ago when eight people walked out of a miniature Earth called Biosphere 2. Biosphere 2 is a collection of large, connected buildings in the American state of Arizona.
The buildings are made mainly of steel and glass. The experiment began in September when the eight individuals entered Biosphere 2. A crowd watched as the four men and four women were secured inside. The event received a lot of media attention in the United States and across the world.
Biosphere 2 was designed to test whether human beings could survive in a closed environment, one that aimed to create conditions similar to those found in nature. The miniature Earth had a man-made rain forest, desert, grasslands and even a small ocean. Technology provided air flow, water and temperature controls. Water supplies and air were cleaned and reused. The eight people grew vegetables, rice and other foods they needed to survive. Farm animals were used to provide meat, eggs and milk.
A decision was made to pump in additional oxygen. The group was also not able to produce as much food as expected. But all of them were able to complete the survivability test, which ended in September While it had some significant issues a crew member had to once leave to go to the hospital, carbon dioxide levels were reaching unsafe levels and food was in short supply , the crew was able to complete their two-year stint in the odd, "bubble" environment.
However, the second mission folded mid-way through its duration in and the facility changed ownership and it was shifted to more traditional research. There are no longer sealed, crewed missions like this in the habitat, but the facility is currently used as a large-scale laboratory by scientists at the University of Arizona.
Researchers originally built Biosphere 2 with the intention to create and study an artificial, self-sustaining biosphere, or the sum of all ecosystems that support life on Earth. The researchers wanted to explore and test whether they could recreate such a diverse and delicately balanced system in a closed environment. By living in it, they took this research a step further and tested whether the enclosure could support human life.
They also wanted to know if the biosphere could provide "a healthy and creative life for humans working as naturalists, ecosystem scientists, and technicians," the researchers added.
The habitat, with its striking, futuristic architecture, houses a number of human-created biomes including a rainforest, coral reef, ocean and more. The "biospherians," who made up the crews who lived quarantined in the facility, even had livestock that lived as part of this unique, enclosed system. The true story behind these quarantined missions in the 90s, which "Spaceship Earth" dives into, is as close to science fiction as reality gets.
While the first group of biospherians were able to finish their two-year quarantined mission, the problems that arose in the habitat garnered such negative media attention that the second crewed mission was shut down halfway through its intended duration. In the biosphere, interpersonal issues and tensions rose alongside issues with the biomes themselves.
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