Biosphere II

  

click photo to enlarge		 Biosphere 2 is an Earth systems research facility just north of Tucson in Oracle and is owned by the University of Arizona. The structure is just over 3 acres and was built between 1987 and 1991 to be a closed system. There were two experiments where people went inside and were sealed off. The first experiment lasted from Sept 1991 to Sept 1993 and the second one was March 1994 to Sept 1994.

click photo to enlarge		 Biosphere 2 contains a rainforest, an ocean with a coral reef, wetlands, savannah grasslands, a fog desert, an agricultural area and of course a human habitat. The agricultural area of Biosphere 2 was planted over a year before closure, and biospherians managed their farm, growing and processing food, so that there would be a supply of food grown inside when the full closure began.

click photo to enlarge		 During the first mission the oxygen level started at 21% and fell at a steady pace. After just over 1 year the level was down to 16% which is equivalent to being at an altitude of  13,000 ft so they started doing oxygen injections. The picture directly below is one of the two lungs of Biosphere 2. The air inside Biosphere would expand and contract due to changes in temperature and the lung was a very large sealed area that had a rubber membrane to allow it to expand and contract as the volume air inside Biosphere 2 did. There was much written about the psychology and conflicts that took place with the people sealed up inside, for me the place was just fascinating to visit.

click photo to enlarge
               click photo to enlarge