Biosphere 2

Biosphere 2 - Oracle Arizona

Biosphere 2 is located on Biosphere 1 (the Earth) about 25 miles Northeast of Tucson, AZ just a few miles outside of Oracle, AZ. Biosphere 2 is a working environmental sciences laboratory that attracts scientists and educators across the globe. Biosphere 2 was built in 1987 as a dedicated self-sufficient laboratory to help scientists understand how to create and maintain a 'closed ecosystem' such that would be used for eventual outposts on the Moon or Mars. From 1991 to 1993 Biosphere 2 hosted eith scientists / mission members who lived within the sealed Biosphere unit - growing their own food, breathing recycled air, drinking recycled water, and conducting experiments to help them understand what future explorers will need to do to survive.

The tour for Biosphere 2 starts with a short movie about the history of Biosphere 2 and its various missions and then you start a journey throughout the various different biomes - rain forrest, ocean, wetlands, fog desert, savannah, farmland. You also get a tour of the technology systems that keep Biosphere 2 running - the air and water recycling systems, power systems, and the 'lungs' of Biosphere 2. At the end you tour the crew quarters to see how they lived for the 2-year missions sealed inside the laboratory.

The University of Arizona now owns and operates Biosphere 2 and continues to draw researchers from across the globe.


http://biosphere2.org/