Biosphere Project - Scientific Objectives

The idea behind Biosphere 2 was to establish a planet in miniature where the inhabitants not only survived but learned to live cooperatively and happily together. The resident scientists observed the interactions of plants and animals, their reactions to change, and their unique methods of living. In the real world, scientists still know little about many of these relationships and how Earth achieves a balance or regains balance after some disruption. The residents also had the assignment of experimenting with new methods of cleaning air and water. Lessons learned from Biosphere 2 may help engineers to design workable living environments and life-support systems for space stations and settlements on other planets. Other biospheres may also be adaptable to less hospitable parts of our own planet, they may be used to house endangered species or environments, they may provide recreational areas of vastly different terrains near cities and, perhaps most importantly, they may be used as living classrooms to educate future generations about preservation of the original biosphere, Earth.