Biosphere Project - The Physical Structure, The Residents, Scientific Objectives, Earlier Biosphere Experiments, Designing Biosphere 2

Biosphere Project - The Physical Structure

Biosphere 2 is located in the Sonora Desert at the foot of the Santa Catalina Mountains not far from Tucson, Arizona. It is one of the most spectacular structures ever built. It is the world's largest greenhouse, made of tubular steel and glass, covering an area of three football fields (137,416 sq ft [12,766 sq m]), and rising above the desert floor to a height of 85 ft (25.9 m). Within th…

Biosphere Project - The Residents

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 achie…

Biosphere Project - Earlier Biosphere Experiments

Scientists have struggled for generations to understand the complex interrelationships of life forms and the atmospheric and hydrologic cycles that provide life on Earth with its essentials. A Russian scientist, Dr. Vladimir Vernadsky (1863-1943), was the first to understand that the life systems of Earth are perfectly balanced and able to self-correct; Vernadsky is considered the "Father o…

Biosphere Project - Designing Biosphere 2

The design of the Biosphere habitats was the work of an international team of hundreds of engineers, scientists, and specialists in agriculture and diverse life species. The site in the Arizona desert was chosen because of the relative ease, in the United States, of obtaining building permits and of importing the species that would reside in the Biosphere. The project was funded by Ed Bass, a bill…

Biosphere Project - Epilogue

The eight human residents of Biosphere 2 lived inside the containment from September 26, 1991, to September 26, 1993, the longest period on record that humans have lived in an "isolated confined environment." The Biospherians experienced many difficulties, including an unusually cloudy year in the Arizona desert that stunted food crops, proliferation of some ant species, and unusual …