A Biosphere Experiment

Yesterday, after the art gallery and before accidently driving in the dark up the twisty, windy, narrow mountain road to spend the night on the side of said road in the Superstition Mountains, I revisited the Biosphere 2.


Back in 1994 while I was traveling and living in Phoenix as a nurse I visited Biosphere 2. At that time I could only walk around outside because the second group of 2 human missions were living inside. The first group of 8 left the facility after a little over 2 years of living in there full time.

The biosphere was built between the years of 1988 - 1991 with private money at a cost of 150 million dollars and is now operated by the University of Arizona.  It is considered one of the man made wonders of the world.


It is located on Highway 77 between Phoenix and Tucson.


Some facts:

• The facility is 3.14 acres
• 91 feet at its highest point
• 6,500 windows and 7,200,000 cubic feet of sealed glass
• sealed from the earth below by a 500 ton welded stainless steel liner
• 34.5 acre campus

The Orchard - where all the fruits were grown to sustain the humans inside.

The ocean. There really are fish and plant life in there. They have never added food in all these years.

The rainforest.

Mangroves and swamp

Desert.

Living inside

The kitchen. Each member of the group was required to prepare a certain amount of meals. It was very important to not waste food because there was no way to replace it. I think they had enough nutrients but not enough calories and this was part of the reason the experiment ended. I think there were also incidents of food stealing.

This was taken through glass but shows the room each participant had to themselves.

There were also many labs and computer areas for monitoring everything from the humans blood levels to the oxygen levels in the air to the water content.

Probably the most interesting feature was the lungs. They were built so that when the air inside became hotter and expanded it would have somewhere to go and when the air cooled down and contracted there was someplace to get some extra.  That round building in the background is one of two built although it was proven during the experiment only one was needed.

This is the loooonnnngggggg ramp which led down to the lung and carried the air in and out of the facility.

You can't see very well in this picture but the room at the end of the tunnel is a big dome about 1 1/2 football fields. When the air goes out the ceiling is almost on the floor. When it is full of air the ceiling is stories high.

It is air tight so when you go in one door you are sucked out and sucked in at the other door.

All of the water, including waste was recycled.

Now the facility is inhabited by scientist conducting many different experiments. This is comparing different kinds of solar panels to figure out which are most efficient.

All of these buildings are new since I was there in the 90's. They are offices, classrooms, labs, a conference center and residential housing. There is even a cafe and a movie theater.

Biosphere 2 is open almost every day from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. You can walk around on your own but to tour inside you must buy a $20 ticket. I found a coupon in a local magazine for $5.00 off. It was well worth it.

B2science.org